Double Back
by Methos2523
Summary: Thrown back in time from 2019 to 1991, a grown and disgruntled Harry Potter finally has the chance to change his life for the better, fixing things before everything went wrong and becoming the father figure for his younger self that he never had. Maybe he now actually has a chance at happiness, both for him and his younger self, and just maybe a chance at romance as well...
1. Chapter 1

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

_**AN:** I'm basically tossing away the epilogue here, it always felt forced and unrealistic to the world created in the last seven books, to have everything just automatically fall into a nice perfect little world for everyone after everything they'd been through... so yes, this is an EWE / AU style fic, most pairings will be completely ignored and outright destroyed throughout._

_I've been tempted to write a "Don't fear the Reaper" style do-over fic for a while now, but always got caught up in the muddle of how an older Harry would interact with his friends at their younger ages, leaving him more a loner than he originally was... so after bouncing around a few ideas with friends, I decided to give the idea of an older Harry thrown back in time, but not into his younger body, a go and see where it leads..._

* * *

_The power to be strong, and the wisdom to be wise_

_All these things will come to you in time._

_On this journey that you're making, there'll be answers that you'll seek_

_And it's you who'll climb the mountain, It's you who'll reach the peak._

_\- "Son of Man" by Phil Collins_

**Sunday 26th May, 2019**

**Nott Manor**

**Wiltshire**

**England**

With a throaty groan and a wince, Harry woke up from uncomfortable slumber and immediately reached for his wand as his eyes jumped open and took in his surroundings.

He'd never been a morning person, not in his childhood at The Dursley's when he'd been forced to wake up every morning to make breakfast for the three of them, not through Hogwarts, and not afterwards through his time in the Auror Corps or the rest of his life.

He just wasn't cut out for mornings, but waking up wet and aching on an asphalt floor was certainly not making it any better, especially considering he had absolutely no idea whatsoever where he was, or how he'd even got here.

It was a muggle street, that much was obvious from the pale golden street lamps that were lighting up the street, and it was raining, rather heavily as well, leaving him pretty much drenched to the bone.

Given how his thick jeans squelched as he stood up, he felt comfortable in assuming he'd been unconscious in the rain for quite a while now, and from the way his boots felt heavy with water, he'd be willing to bet it had been at least a few hours.

He was wet, cold, uncomfortable and utterly confused with what was going on. He had his wand in hand though, which clearly meant that however he'd got here, it wasn't done by anyone with malicious intent. If he'd been unconscious as long as he was assuming, then anyone could have killed him, obliviated him, put him under the imperius, or done whatever they'd wanted to him, but they hadn't.

A quick check of his jeans pockets found his wallet and keys, the invisibility cloak in his coat inside pocket and Auror tools and shrunken broom in his other inside pocket. The resurrection stone was still on it's silver clasp around his neck like a normal necklace, and he could mentally feel the connection to the cloak and Elder Wand in his hand. So whoever had knocked him out, hadn't wanted the Deathly Hallows either.

Which left him somewhat bemused, only adding to his confusion. He was unharmed, with all his possessions, but had been unconscious for however long and been removed from... His brain stuttered as he tried to focus on the last thing he actually remembered.

Automatically he stepped forwards, falling into his normal habit of pacing while thinking as he ruffled his messy hair, feeling the rain drip away from it as he ran his fingers over his head.

What did he remember? He'd been working, he definitely remembered going into The Ministry this morning and then... he was heading out on an assignment with his usual strike team of hit wizards, they'd had some information about... something...

"Damnit," He muttered to himself, spinning around in frustration and pacing back the way he'd came.

His team, that was right, they'd been performing a raid on one of the old manors, but where? And where were the rest of his team? Were they all unconscious like he'd been, or had something even worse happened to them? That seemed somewhat unlikely, he was generally accepted as being the 'lightning rod' of the Auror department, as he had been his entire life. If something bad was going to happen, then it was certain that it was going to happen to him rather than anyone else.

Pacing around he frowned as he racked his brain and tried to remember exactly what had happened and how on earth he'd ended up on the street somewhere without any of his team with him, he was still grumbling to himself when he felt a crunch under foot and the street was lit up for a brief second with a golden flash that caused him to flinch backwards slightly.

Gingerly he lifted up his foot, staring down with a raised eyebrow at the mess of golden metal, glass, and now wet and clumpy sand that was very quickly being washed away by the heavy rainfall around him.

"Oh this isn't good." He muttered to himself, recognising the somewhat crushed and malformed metal underfoot as a time turner.

"Time Turner!" He shouted aloud, putting his foot down again and making sure not to stand on the already crushed time turner. That was it, they'd been raiding Nott Manor and... it was fuzzy, but he definitely remembered leading his team through Nott Manor and finding... who... Nott definitely, both the Malfoy's, senior and junior were there, and a few others that were just fuzzy jumbles in his mind.

There'd been spellfire, the six of his team plus him against the remnant's of the Death Eaters in the Nott Manor, and he'd seen a time turner on the table along with some rune stones and enough arithmancy books that Hermione would have drooled at the sight.

Then... everything went fuzzy. Everyone had been shooting off spells, he'd ducked behind the table for cover as he blasted off spells over it, attempting to nail down Nott or either of the Malfoy's while the rest of his team found their own cover, and then... nothing.

He couldn't remember a damn thing after the battle had started.

Reaching down he gingerly picked up the crushed time turner, wincing as he could only imagine how Hermione would be yelling at him for destroying something like this, even if it had been by accident.

The Sands of Time that had been in the hourglass had been completely washed away now, the glass that made up the central column in the time turner was little more than shards that he could barely see on the ground.

Why would Nott or the Malfoy's have a time turner? That didn't make sense to him at all. They were heavily restricted by the Department of Mysteries, and even if the Malfoy's had managed to bribe their way into getting their hands on one, something he was certain was relatively easy for the Malfoy's, what on earth would they actually use one for?

Putting the broken time turner in his pocket for now he looked around the street one last time. He had far too many questions and nowhere near enough answers. He still had absolutely no idea where he was or what had happened to him, or who'd dumped him here in the middle of nowhere.

It wasn't an apparition accident, as he hadn't been splinched. None of his team were using portkeys, so that was out, and as far as he could see, there wasn't a house, let alone a fireplace anywhere near the country road he was on, which a floo accident out as well.

Lots and lots of questions, and no answers to be found.

Focusing on his soggy clothes for now he shook his head in bemusement at the situation, wiping the rain off of his face before he focused on heading home to change before twisting on the spot and disapparating away with an almost silent pop.

* * *

**Potter Manor**

**Honley**

**West Yorkshire**

**England**

Appearing in his living room at Potter Manor, Harry had half shrugged off his dragon-skin trench-coat when he looked around and froze mid step, his coat hanging off of his arms around the elbows as he looked around suspiciously at the room he'd apparated into.

It was... off. Something was definitely off.

The room was thick with dust, like nobody had lived here for years now, and the furniture had been moved around from where he knew he had everything laid out. His usual coffee table by the brown leather couch was missing, and the leather couch was actually in the wrong place entirely, instead of being by the window where he normally had it, it was in front of the fireplace where...

He trailed off as that thought filtered into his brain and froze him to the spot.

The couch was exactly where it had been the first time he'd set foot in Potter Manor nearly two decades ago. In fact, everything was. The Manor was dusty and unkempt, having been abandoned for over a decade since his grandparents had died, and he'd been the first person to actually step foot in the place after finding out about it from the documents in his family vault.

"Oh no no no," He muttered to himself as he shrugged his trench-coat back on and looked around the living room to be certain, completely ignoring the way the rain was dripping off of his coat and mixing with the dust on the thick carpet underfoot.

It was, everything in the manor was exactly as it had been the first time he'd arrived here.

Darting out of the living room he ran to the kitchen, taking a look only confirmed his fears. It was exactly as he remembered it being, none of the changes he'd made over the last twenty years or so were there, leaving it looking abandoned and unloved, a far cry from the warm and comfortable room where he spent most of his time.

"Time turner," Harry whispered to himself with a grimace, leaning against the kitchen door frame as he fished out the mangled time turner from his pocket and stared down at it in horror.

It was obvious now that he'd been thrown back to... somewhere? Somewhen? When felt better to use for some strange reason. Somewhen before he'd come to the manor for the first time, but when?

Time turners couldn't do that. Not decades worth of travel, no way in hell. They were all limited, The Department of Mysteries made sure of it. Just like nobody using a time turner could actually affect the time they were in, it was one of the laws of magic.

But he was here, which made absolutely no sense. He knew his grandparents, Fleamont and Euphemia had died shortly after his parents had been married, he knew that for certain because he'd found photos of his parents wedding in his grandfather's study upstairs. Photos that he'd kept and moved to the living room when he'd moved into the manor itself.

Which meant he was here somewhere after his grandparents had died and before he'd found out about the place, and judging from the amount of dust around, it was quite a few years after.

So logically it was somewhere between seventy nine and ninety nine, probably on the later side judging by the dust buildup and the overgrown trees and shrubs he could see out of the kitchen window.

"Damnit," He muttered to himself, looking down at the wet footprints he'd left through the manor. He could clean those up easily though and disguise them with dust to hide his presence here, but that left another conundrum, how the hell was he supposed to get back to his own time?

Pocketing the mangled time turner for now, he frowned as he tried to get his barrings and figure out exactly what he had to do. He could use the manor as a secluded base for now, that was easy enough. The manor itself was unplottable and hidden behind even more charms than Grimmauld Place was. The fact everyone believed it had been destroyed in the first war just added to it's security, as nobody actually knew about it or believed it was still around, making it the perfect place for him to hide out until he figured this situation out.

First things first he had to figure out when he actually was. Finding out the date was at the top spot on his list, then he could figure out how he was going to repair the time turner in his pocket, if it was even possible. He wasn't stupid, far from it, but he knew he was nowhere hear Hermione levels of smart when it came to things like this, and fixing a time turner's enchantments was definitely outside of his skill set.

"Date first, then figure out exactly how much of a mess you've got yourself into this time." He muttered to himself before twisting around and apparating away.

* * *

**Diagon Alley**

**London**

Diagon Alley was, to no great surprise, exactly as he remembered it being. Not in his recent memories though, the shops that had sprung up after Voldemort's rise weren't there, neither was the Weasley twins joke shop.

No, Diagon Alley as it was reminded him of a more innocent time. The witches and wizards bustling through it were happily talking amongst themselves, he got a few looks but nothing like he was used to receiving, and nobody approached him or whispered around him like they always did when he ventured into the alley.

"OK, definitely somewhere before ninety seven." He muttered to himself, looking down the alley towards the shop that was to become Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but was currently looking like some sort of cafe business.

Looking around the alley in amusement he trudged his way down, smiling fondly at the memories the shops brought back to him of more innocent times when he'd first started out at Hogwarts.

"Look, it's the new Nimbus!"

Harry's eyes immediately swung around at the voice, catching sight of the children gathered outside Quality Quidditch Supplies and staring through the windows, their hands and faces pressed up against the glass and practically drooling over the broom on display inside.

Chuckling to himself he made his way over, curiosity on his mind as he wondered what they were all staring at. He didn't need to get that close though, as he was a few steps behind the children in front of the window when he recognised and cherry brown broomstick on display.

How could he not? He knew the curves of that broomstick like he knew his own hand. The gold bracers and kickstand were just as he remembered it, and his eyes traced over the familiar brand logo that was etched in gold at the top of the handle.

"The Nimbus Two Thousand." He breathed out reverently, not hearing how the children in front of him were rattling off what they'd heard about the broom's top speed or cornering abilities.

That gave him a rather narrow window to when he actually was, as he knew the Nimbus Two Thousand had been released in ninety one, and then had been succeeded by the Two Thousand and One in May of ninety two.

The fact there were children around staring at the broom told him they weren't in school, which put it in the summer holidays sometime.

So it was the summer holidays of nineteen ninety one.

Swallowing the curses on his lips he turned away from the broom and stalked away from the shop, ruffling his hair in frustration as he tried to figure out what to do now.

Nineteen Ninety One, or more specifically, the summer of Ninety One, the year he actually found out about magic and started Hogwarts for the first time. The year Voldemort possessed Quirrell and attempted to steal the Philosophers Stone from Dumbledore, and the year he faced Voldemort for the first time and defeated him.

"Bugger," He whispered to himself as he paced around the alley, walking blindly as he tried to get his thoughts in order.

That would be why nobody was looking at him or whispering, as far as everyone was concerned, Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, was only eleven and hidden away by Dumbledore somewhere.

He knew the truth of course, but nobody else did. As far as everyone else was concerned, he was just a random wizard in Diagon Alley, nobody special, and certainly nobody to pay attention to.

Shaking his head at the thought for now he turned around and started heading towards the Leaky Cauldron. They'd have a copy of the Daily Prophet there, they always had a stack delivered every morning that rested on the bar for anyone to take.

Focusing on that thought he ignored the rest of the wizards and witches in the alley, finding out the exact date was the only thing in his mind right now, so he could hopefully get out of the alley and start focusing on figuring out how to get back to his own time.

It didn't take him long to make his way up and flick his wand over the alley way bricks, revealing the passage through to the rear entrance of the Leaky Cauldron, the dingy pub was exactly how he remembered it being and it was actually a comfort to step through into the familiar atmosphere of the pub.

He'd been drinking at The Leaky more than a few times over the years. A few years after the war it had been taken over by Hannah Abbot, who had married Neville a few years later, making it a comfortable place for them all to gather regularly and chat amongst themselves.

It was also one of the places the Auror squads visited regularly after hours, drinking and chatting, comparing stories and laughing between their groups about things that had happened during their shifts.

"Get you anything?" The barman asked, eyeing Harry as he approached the bar.

"Double fire whiskey," Harry nodded, automatically reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few sickles.

The barman nodded, moving away to fulfil the order and leaving Harry to grab one of the copies of the Daily Prophet from the bar.

"Twentieth of July?" Harry muttered to himself, eyeing the date with trepidation.

"You alright?" The barman asked as he came back, putting the tumbler of fire-whiskey on the bar and scooping up the sickles.

Harry snorted at that, shaking his head. "Few casts away from alright," He admitted as he grabbed the tumbler, knocking back the double shot of fire-whiskey with practised ease. "Mind if I keep this?"

"Go ahead," The barman shrugged. "Another?"

"Keep them coming," Harry nodded, sitting down grumpily on the stool at the bar.

The end of July, only a week and a few days before his birthday. A week and a few days before his eleventh birthday. Was there even a phrase or curse that summed up this situation? Besides being completely and utterly fucked?

He was back in Ninety One, his younger self was currently at Privet Drive, probably locked in the cupboard under the stairs for something Dudley did or said, or just because Vernon felt like it, and he was here by some sort of magical accident with a broken time turner and absolutely no clue how to get back to his own time.

"Thanks," He muttered, accepting the second double shot of fire-whiskey from the bartender and knocking it back before dumping out a few more sickles onto the bar.

"Rough day?" The bartender asked, putting the bottle of fire-whiskey on the bar in front of Harry.

"You've got no idea," Harry admitted with a grimace, staring at the bottle of fire-whiskey and considering the temptation.

"Figured," The bartender nodded. "Auror right? Don't see many others with a dragon-skin coat around." He explained when he saw Harry's questioning look. "Not seen you in 'ere before, new to the squad?"

"Yeah," Harry grumbled automatically, thinking fast about what he could actually say and what he couldn't. He definitely didn't want to draw any attention to himself, and getting drunk and The Leakey, despite how tempting the thought was given the situation, would definitely draw the wrong sort of attention.

"Thanks," Harry nodded, holding up his hand and shaking his head in a negative towards the bottle.

"Suit yourself," The bartender shrugged, retrieving the bottle and replacing it on the back of the bar.

Standing up from the stool Harry quickly folded up the copy of the Daily Prophet and gripped it tightly before twisting and apparating away with a crack, not having hear the questioning "James?" That rang through the bar as he vanished in a swirl of magic.

"Hmm?" The bartender asked, looking down towards the door of the pub to where the voice had come from. "'Melia? One of yours then?" He asked, wiping up the bar automatically as Amelia Bones strode through the pub and came to stand face to face with him.

"Who was that?" Amelia demanded, glaring at Tom and twitching her hands towards her wand.

"Dunno," Tom shrugged as he finished wiping down the bar. "Sounded like he'd had a rough day though, necked two doubles of fire-whiskey like they were water." He explained as he hung the washcloth over his shoulder. "Reckoned he was one of yours? Looked like an Auror anyway."

"Hmm," Amelia grunted with a non-committal frown as she racked her memory while looked at the spot where the man had vanished from.

She recognised that messy hair, and she certainly recognised that Chinese Fireball coat that he'd been wearing. After all, she'd been there with Lily when she'd commissioned the damn thing and had it made for James' present, celebrating him being accepted into the Auror corps.

But that wasn't possible. James Potter was dead. Voldemort killed him nearly a decade ago, it was history. But that was no ghost she'd seen in the bar, he'd been as real as Tom was.

"What else did he say?" Amelia demanded, looking back to Tom with a frown.

"Nothin' much," Tom shrugged, looking away from the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. "Just came in, looked a bit pale, said he'd had a bad day. Had a few drinks then apparated off." He explained. "He skiving off work or something then?" He asked with a smirk.

"Something," Amelia commented, trying to figure out exactly what she'd seen. "Definitely something." She muttered to herself as she watched Tom wander off down the bar to see to another customer, leaving her alone to try and figure out what the hell was going on here.

* * *

**Potter Manor**

**Honley**

**West Yorkshire**

**England**

Appearing in the living room of Potter Manor, Harry grimaced as he looked down at the date on the paper again, a mixture of disbelief and horror making him hope that the ink would suddenly change and it would be two thousand nineteen again, but the date stayed exactly the same, leaving him with the rather uncomfortable knowledge that it truly was nineteen ninety one all over again.

He had nowhere near enough curse words in his vocabulary to sum up exactly what he was feeling right now. Somehow, that damned time turner in Nott's study, had thrown him back close to thirty bloody years, leaving him in a complete mess that he had no idea how to get out of.

Time turners didn't go forwards, they only went back, and only back a few hours at the the best of times. They certainly didn't go back thirty years, and even if he could somehow repair the broken time turner in his pocket, that didn't help him get home at all.

"Great, just bloody great," Harry groaned to himself as he dragged his hand down his face in frustration.

For now, Potter Manor was the safest place for him to hold up. It was secret and completely off the grid, which meant he could happily stay here at least until ninety nine when the younger Harry would find out about the place.

Flicking his wand around the living room he comfortably banished all the dust and flicked out a few cleaning charms before opening the window to let some fresh air into the room.

This wasn't good, not good in the slightest.

Tugging off his jacket he tossed it on the side of the couch for the moment before dropping down unceremoniously on the leather and letting a brief smile cross his face at the familiar sound and smell of his favourite leather couch.

Unfolding the copy of the Daily Prophet he glanced over the headlines, happily ignoring the usual fluff that the paper was full of. The story seemed to be covering something about the Wizardry Budget, and was so dry that even the Prophet's usual sensationalism couldn't hold his attention to read any further.

Ninety sodding One, what in Merlin's name was he going to do?

He sat there for a moment before flicking his wand towards the fireplace, silently igniting the fire as he tried to rack his brain and think about everything he could remember from the summer before he'd started Hogwarts.

Tugging off his still waterlogged boots he tossed them down in front of the fire to dry off before vanishing the water that pooled around them from where they'd fallen.

What did he remember? He remembered getting his Hogwarts letter, hundreds of the things really because Vernon kept stealing them, burning them, tearing them up or tossing them in the trash.

He remembered visiting the zoo with Dudley and Piers, that was on Dudley's eleventh birthday, so it would have been on the twenty third, a few days before the letters started flooding through.

What he had to do, almost certainly, was stay away from events and keep to himself so he wouldn't interfere with things. He had absolutely no doubt that The Unspeakables would come for him if they found out about his situation, it seemed like entirely the sort of thing they'd be interested in, and he had no intention of being locked away in some room under The Ministry answering their questions for the next thirty years.

No, he had to stay put for now. Stay out of trouble, and stay away from everything that was going on out in the world. That was the best course of action, and as an Auror, he was sworn to upload the law, even the stupid ones.

Not that there was any real law about time travel, especially since he was damned sure nobody had ever travelled back this far before. Which left him in a rather dubious and grey position as far as he was concerned.

Staying out of the way was definitely the best idea, he could work on the problem himself and figure out how to get back to his own time, then he'd set the manor back to it's old dusty state so his younger self wouldn't notice anything was wrong when he found out about it for the first time.

"This is going to give me a headache," He muttered to himself, ruffling his hair as he tried to keep his tenses straight in his head.

Leaning back on the couch he simply sat there and enjoyed the fire for the moment, revelling in it's warm as it dried through his shirt and jeans. It was strange, thinking about these early years of his life, thinking about what everyone else must have been doing right now.

For all he knew, Hermione was still at her muggle primary school and didn't know a thing about the magical world yet. He'd never actually asked her when she'd found out about magic or received her letter from Hogwarts.

Everyone he knew wasn't quite themselves yet, everything that had happened in his life, Voldemort's return and rise to power, his defeat and the rebuilding that followed, it had all shaped him and everyone else into the people they were.

He snorted in amusement as he realised that Hermione would still be the bookish, rule abiding know-it-all she'd started out as. She'd changed so much over the years, through her six years at Hogwarts and their friendship, to being on the run together, then her short fling with Ron before Ron had turned into an utter wanker because of the fame that being part of the group had brought to him.

He grimaced as he thought about Ron. He hadn't seen any of The Weasleys aside from George for years now, and George he only really saw around Diagon Alley.

If he had to be honest with himself, he knew that Ron had always been a complete wanker really. He was exactly the same through Hogwarts, jealous and bitter towards anyone who had things better than he did. He wasn't faithful to anyone but himself, and had proven that time after time when he'd voiced his jealousy and turned away from him and Hermione in his little temper tantrums.

Neville, Hermione, Hannah, Susan and Luna were the friends he saw the most of now and were the people he was closest too.

In the years after the war, Hermione had worked at The Ministry for quite a few years before getting disenchanted with it and leaving to find work in the muggle world, and to be honest, he couldn't blame her one bit.

As much as he liked to think everything they'd been through had been for the better, the sad truth was that nothing much had changed in the decades after Voldemort's defeat.

The Ministry and Wizengamot were still full of bribery and corruption, bigotry was still as much of a problem as ever, and The Ministry still only promoted pure blood wizards and witches, leaving muggleborns like Hermione floundering at the bottom as pure blood idiots were promoted over them for no reason whatsoever.

Susan and Neville had joined up with The Aurors like he had, though Neville left after a couple of years to focus on his Herbology mastery and return to Hogwarts as a professor, leaving him and Susan in the Auror Corps to work together.

Ron hadn't even lasted a month in the Aurors, he'd assumed it would just be another adventure and hadn't actually thought about all the hard work that went into being an Auror. Things like knowing the laws and regulations were completely beyond him, and he refused to even crack open any of the books on the subject, stating that he was one of the three that defeated Voldemort, and that alone should secure him a place in the Aurors as far as he was concerned.

He'd been drummed out of the corps after failing the first exam with a record braking negative score and had gone to work at The Weasley joke shop after that.

That was the world he remembered, the friends he knew and the people that had stood by him, but that world, those people, none of it existed here and wouldn't for at least seven or eight years, more in some cases.

"Bugger," He muttered to himself as he sunk down in the couch and tried to figure out what to do next.


	2. Chapter 2

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**24 July, 1991**

**Potter Manor**  
**Honley**  
**West Yorkshire**  
**England**

"Alright, alright..." Harry grumbled, tossing in his bed and flicking his hand out towards the bedroom window with a burst of wandless magic to open it.

It had been over a week now since he'd discovered he'd been stranded in the past, and while he'd managed to work his way through a significant portion of the library in the manor, he was still no closer to figuring out how to get home.

He'd taken over his father's bedroom again, just as he had done before. It was the bedroom he found most comfortable in the house and gave him a strange feeling of closure to know it was the room his father had grown up in.

In his sleep addled state it took his brain a minute to realise exactly what he'd just done, and before the thoughts actually registered properly in his mind he recognised the owl that was flying into the room before dropping a letter off onto his bed and swooping back out of the window to fly away.

"Blood owls," He muttered to himself, shaking his head as he tried to wake up. Firstly, who the hell would be writing to him? Nobody here knew he was here or even knew who he was.

Lifting up the letter he squinted at it for a moment before hunting around for his glasses on the bedside table.

Glasses were another thing he'd gotten used to again, as he couldn't exactly make the trip into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to get his usual prescription Auror grade contact lenses anymore.

"What the..." He muttered to himself as he placed his glasses on his face, reading the front of the envelope in shock, then horror as the words filtered into his brain.

The calligraphy on the front of the envelope was plain to read, and the emerald green ink was recognisable to any witch or wizard growing up around the country.

Mr H. Potter  
The Cupboard under the Stairs  
4 Privet Drive  
Little Whinging  
Surrey

"What the f..." Harry trailed off as he ran his fingers over the address on the front of the parchment envelope.

For one thing, Potter Manor wasn't anywhere near Little Whinging, it was in bloody Yorkshire for gods sake, a good two hundred miles from Surrey. For another thing, this was a bedroom, not the bloody cupboard under the stairs. Lastly, what in Merlin's name was an owl doing delivering the letter, as he knew for certain that his letters had come through the muggle post originally because Vernon had taken time to seal up the letter box and praised the lord when Sunday had come around, solely because there wasn't any post on Sundays.

"Fuck, fuck fuck fuck." Harry groused to himself as he glared at the letter in his hand.

Would his younger self still get a letter through the post this morning? He remembered that date well enough, it was the day Vernon had moved him out from the cupboard under the stairs and into Dudley's second bedroom upstairs.

If his younger self didn't get the letter, would he get any of the others? Would Hagrid even turn up, or would Hagrid end up finding his way here, just like the owl had done, and find him instead of his younger self?

Now everything was well and truly fucked as far as he could see.

"Why couldn't you just deliver the bloody letter like you were supposed to?" He shouted, yelling towards the open window in a hopeless attempt to berate the owl that had already flown away.

For a start, he had absolutely no clue how the Hogwarts letters ended up in the muggle mail system in the first place. He didn't remember his Hogwarts letter ever having a stamp on it, which meant that they were likely enchanted somehow to find their way into the system and be delivered to where they were supposed to go.

Grumbling to himself he tossed the duvet aside as he clambered out of bed and tugged on his jeans awkwardly as he tried to think over what to do next.

If the letter was in his hand, then his younger self couldn't have received one. Which meant things were changing in this time, which shouldn't be possible. Time turners couldn't help you change the past, the past was what it was.

He fell back onto the bed, sitting there in stunned realisation as the thought fluttered through his brain. The past, his past, had changed. He could change the past and fix everything. Could he?

The fact that the letter was in his hand certainly gave credence to the idea, if he could change the past, then there was no limit to the people he could save and the things he could change.

Scratching his stubble idly he frowned in thought, could he? Should he?

He needed to test things first before jumping in and changing anything drastically, and he needed to know exactly how things were changing already by him simply existing here.

The owl had found him, that much was an annoyance already, but had it been a double letter and had his younger self received one as well? If so, then maybe this had all happened the first time as well, and he couldn't really change anything, but if he hadn't... then everything was open to him.

Jumping up from the bed with more excitement this time he grabbed his black shirt from the floor and cast a quick cleaning charm over it before tugging it on and dashing out of the room.

He needed to know for certain what he was dealing with here, and that meant going back somewhere he hadn't been in nearly twenty years.

Grinning to himself he practically ran down the stone spiral staircase to the ground floor of the manor, pausing only to tug on his boots and pull on his trench-coat before he vanished with a loud crack that sounded like a thunder bolt in the quiet living room of Potter Manor.

* * *

**Privet Drive**  
**Little Whinging**  
**Surrey**  
**England**

Arriving with a loud crack at Privet Drive, he looked around automatically to make sure there hadn't been any muggles around to see him apparate onto the street.

It was still early thankfully, and Harry comfortably walked down towards number four, idly looking around the various houses and remembering how he'd lived here for the first sixteen years of his life wishing that any of the neighbours would actually take him in and away from The Dursley's.

He smiled to himself as he spotted the postman already making his rounds, and jogged a bit to overtake him as he headed towards number four. He didn't even pause to think about it as he strode past Vernon's Ford that was parked on the drive outside the house, and his brain didn't even register was he was doing until he rapped his knuckles on the door loudly and stepped back on the doorstep.

His eyes shot open wide as he realised just what he'd done, and was set to quickly apparate away when the door was pulled open, leaving him standing there with a stunned expression on his face as he looked down at his childhood self.

"Hello?"

Harry simply blinked, unsure what to say or do in this situation, half expecting a lightning bolt to come from the sky any second to strike him down for meddling with time like this.

"Who is it boy?"

Harry groaned to himself as he heard the voice coming from within, remembering how bad things had been with Vernon back when he was that small.

"Are... are you my dad?"

Harry was broken out of his thoughts suddenly and crashed back to reality as the little voice spoke up again, leaving him looking down at his younger self, who was looking up at him with a shocked expression that he was damned sure he was mirroring back at his younger self.

"I said who is..."

Vernon trailed off as he came through to the front door from the living room, blanching white as he saw Harry standing there with his younger self stood in front of him. "You... but... you... you're dead! The Freaks told..."

Harry automatically narrowed his eyes at that word, glaring across at Vernon and silencing him with the look of fury that crossed his face.

"Mornin', just two for you today."

Harry turned to the side absently as he heard another voice, spotting the postman coming up the drive with two letters in his hand that he handed to the younger Harry before moving off, completely ignoring the tension in the air as Harry continued to glare across the doorway at Vernon.

Two, just two. Harry absently flicked his eyes down towards the two letters in his younger self's hands. A postcard of some sort, and a bill. Nothing from Hogwarts, no parchment letter, and nothing to scare Vernon into changing his bedroom arrangements from the cupboard under the stairs to the upstairs bedroom.

He was changing history, just by being here, he'd changed things. He could change things, and he was going to start right now. "Hello Vernon." Harry grinned, showing his teeth as he looked over at the overweight man who was going even paler as he looked back.

The younger Harry was completely confused by this, and was staring up between Vernon and the strange man with a puzzled expression on his little face. He'd never seen the strange man before in his life, but he looked exactly like he did. The same messy black hair, green eyes and the scar close to the right temple of his forehead.

He took in everything he could about the strange man, staring at his long leather coat that just screamed 'cool' and his long leather boots, his heavily worn jeans and his black shirt that was hanging loosely over his jeans, unlike how he'd always had to tuck his shirt into his trousers whenever he'd been forced to wear one.

The strange man actually looked cool and dangerous, and Uncle Vernon seemed completely and utterly terrified by his presence here at the door.

"Out! Get out! And take that Freak son of yours with you!" Vernon bellowed, stepping forwards and pushing the younger Harry with all of his might, sending him stumbling forwards to bounce off of the front door before Harry managed to catch him and hold him steady.

"You alright?" Harry asked automatically, looking down at his younger self, completely shocked by the fact he could actually touch his younger self without anything bad or magical happening.

"Yeah," The younger Harry nodded, looking up at Harry with a shocked expression on his face.

"You Freaks think you can come in to decent people's houses and ruin a perfectly good morning with your freakish..."

Harry didn't even give Vernon the chance to finish his little rant as he stepped forwards, his right arm swinging up with literally decades of Quidditch games and Auror training behind it, connecting with Vernon's face in a vicious right cross that sent him crashing backwards, rendering him unconscious before his body had even crumpled to the floor.

"That... that was cathartic," Harry admitted to himself with a grin, looking down at his younger self who was staring up in awe at what he'd just witnessed. "Want to get out of here?" He asked with a wide smile, receiving an enthusiastic nod in response. "Hold on tight." He said, grinning as he reached down and clasped his hand around his younger self's shoulder before he apparated away with a crack, dragging his younger self away and destroyed the original time-line for good in the process.

* * *

**Potter Manor**

Harry immediately stepped away as he appeared in the Potter Manor living room, the sound of vomiting reaching his ears as he looked down to see his younger self being violently sick from the transition.

"Yeah, sorry, forgot how bad that was first time." He admitted with a bashful grin, looking down and recognising the look of fear and horror on his younger self's face as he expected to be hit for being sick like that. "Hey, don't worry, it's not a problem." He explained, brandishing his wand and vanishing the vomit from the floor with a quick silent vanishing charm.

At that, his younger self seemed even more afraid and was looking up at him with wide eyes, the fearful expression still on his face.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Harry said quickly, putting his wand away and holding up his hands in a sign of surrender.

"Are... are you my dad?" Younger Harry asked, his eyes wide with hope as he looked at Harry with the question burning in them.

"No," Harry admitted with a small grimace. "Sorry." He apologised softly, realising how much he'd wished for a real family when he was younger.

"But... you look just like me?" Younger Harry said, turning the thought into a question with a tilt of his head. "Are you my older brother then? A cousin like Dudley?"

Harry snorted in amusement at that, nodding in agreement. "There's a reason for that." He admitted. "You hungry?" He asked, walking off towards the kitchen and waiting for his younger self to follow him. "I remember Vernon never really gave us much to eat back then, even though I... we? Cooked it every morning."

"Us?" The younger Harry frowned, looking around the strange kitchen in awe before settling his eyes back on the strange man.

"Us," Harry confirmed with a nod as he moved over to the kitchen table and leaned against it, sitting comfortably there as he looked back at his younger self. "I'm you." He said bluntly.

"But... you... you can't be me, I'm me." The younger Harry stammered out.

"I'm you from the future," Harry explained with a shrug. "The older you." He clarified, trying to think about how much his ten year old self could comprehend. "Remember Dudley's seventh birthday, they were watching Bill and Ted while I... while you cooked his birthday cake in the kitchen?"

"Time travel?" The younger Harry whispered, his eyes going wide as he remembered the movie Dudley and Piers had been watching on video while throwing popcorn at each other.

"Exactly!" Harry grinned back. "Well, meet your future." He explained, holding out his arms as if to say 'tada'.

"Where are we?" The younger Harry asked, looking around the kitchen again and back into the living room where they'd appeared. "And how did we get here?"

"My... your... our, our grandparents place." Harry explained, stumbling over his words as he tried to get it straight in his head. "Getting here? That was apparating, you won't learn how to do that for about five years." He explained with a grin.

"Learn that?" The younger Harry whispered in shock.

"Magic," Harry grinned back.

"No way!" The younger Harry shared the identical grin.

"Exactly!" Harry laughed back, fishing out the Hogwarts letter from his coat pocket and handing it over to his younger self. "That's for you." He explained with a grin, letting his younger self take it as he retrieved his wand again and flicked it towards the oven, lighting up the hobs on the top silently before moving over and placing a pan over them. "Hogwarts, it's a magic school." He explained as he heard the parchment tearing from behind as he pulled some bacon out of the cupboard and cancelled the stasis charm over it before dropping it into the frying pan.

"A magic school?" The younger Harry whispered in shock.

"I'm making a mess of this," Harry admitted with a grimace, turning away from the frying pan to look back at his younger self. "My... our parents, they could do magic too. A witch and wizard." He explained. "They didn't die in a car crash, and Vernon was full of shit when he told you they were drunks." He explained, idly pondering if swearing in front of his ten year old self was a good or bad thing to do.

"My... our? Our dad was a wizard?" The younger Harry asked, awe in his voice.

"Yeah, mum too. A witch I mean, not a wizard. And I'm sure my face looked exactly like that when I found out." Harry grinned back. "Hagrid told me though when he came with a letter after Vernon burnt all of mine." He explained with a shrug. "I never got that one." He said, nodding towards the letter in his younger self's hands. "Vernon threw it away before I could read it."

"Oh," The younger Harry whispered, his expression a mix of puzzlement and awe as he flicked his attention between the letter in his hands and his apparent older self. "How... how old are you?"

"Thirty eight," Harry shrugged, turning back to the frying pan quickly to make sure the bacon wasn't burning before returning his attention to his younger self. "It's two thousand and nineteen for me, or it was anyway."

"You... you came back to take me away from The Dursleys?" The younger Harry whispered, awe on his face as he looked up at his older self.

"It's... I..." Harry sighed as he ruffled his hair. "It's complicated." He admitted with a grimace. "Things are going to get a lot more complicated when you start school." He explained, nodding towards the letter in his younger self's hand.

"Why complicated?" The younger Harry asked.

"Because..." Harry started, wishing that he'd actually thought ahead or planned this out. "My... our... our parents were killed by an evil wizard." He explained, simplifying it down for his younger self to understand. "He's coming back, and will be at the school this year."

"Oh," The younger Harry whispered, colour fading from his face. "Is... is that why you came back, did he..."

"I beat him, my time around anyway." Harry explained with a grin down as he turned around and used his wand to levitate the bacon up and flip it over. "With some friends, but... but you won't have to bother about that this time."

"I won't?" The younger Harry asked in shock.

"Nope," Harry grinned back to his younger self. "Because I'm going to do it for you." He explained with a wide smile.

The younger Harry simply blinked at that, not knowing what to say to that declaration. He'd never had anyone look out for him like that before, ever, and the knowledge that the strange cool man was apparently him from the future had shocked him more than anything had done in his entire life.

Apparently he was going to grow up to be tall, and strong, and cool! And a wizard! And wear a cool leather coat! As far as the younger Harry was concerned, the future looked absolutely amazing to him.

"Grab a seat at the table," Harry laughed, looking down at the stunned and grinning expression on his younger self's face as he slid over a loaf of bread and pulled out enough slices for them both before making up two bacon sandwiches, each filled with more than enough bacon to satisfy each of them.

He watched as his younger self sat at the kitchen table as he grabbed two plates, putting the sandwiches on each plate and carrying them over, sliding one in front of his younger self before sitting down lazily at the table himself and biting into his sandwich happily.

"I didn't even know time travel was possible, at least, not like this." Harry admitted, breaking the awkward silence as he ate while his younger self simply stared at the sandwich in shock. "I didn't come back on purpose, it was an accident that threw me back here."

"What happened?" The younger Harry asked, slowly taking a bite out of the sandwich and looking around as if he was expecting to be yelled at any second.

"I don't know," Harry admitted with a frown. "I was working and... everything went black, I woke up and it was ninety one all over again." He explained with a shrug.

"What... what do you do?" The younger Harry asked, practically bouncing with curiosity about what the future held for him.

"I'm an Auror," Harry explained, then clarified when he realised his ten year old self wouldn't know what that meant. "Like a cross between a magical policeman, detective and soldier. I hunt down bad wizards basically, protect innocent people, that sort of thing."

"Wow!" The younger Harry breathed out, looking at his older self in awe at this clarification that he was definitely going to grow up to be cool.

"It's pretty fun," Harry admitted with a smile. "I didn't even find out about my grandparents house... this place... until I was nineteen." He explained, looking to his younger self. "Nobody brought me here or told me anything about it." He said with a sigh. "But yeah, my job is cool and I've got some good friends, you'll meet them when you start school too."

"You... I... I'll have friends?" The younger Harry whispered, disbelief in his voice.

"Oh yeah," Harry laughed back. "One, Hermione. She loves reading, she'll stand by you no matter what." He explained with a smile as he thought back to Hermione. He definitely changing things this time, the younger Hermione wasn't going to suffer through years of bullying or being tortured at Malfoy Manor, and she certainly wasn't going to be nearly killed in The Ministry on a half baked plan to...

"Sirius," Harry trailed off in shock as he realised exactly what sort of a chance he was being given here.

"What?" The younger Harry asked, not having understood what his older self had said.

"Sirius... he's... he's our godfather." Harry explained with a frown. "He's in prison right now, but he escapes in a few years, or he did anyway." He said thoughtfully.

"Oh," The younger Harry blinked in confusion. He had a godfather?

"Anyway, who else..." Harry muttered to himself, putting aside thoughts about Sirius for the moment until he could actually figure out what to do about them properly. "Neville, he's pretty quiet. I didn't really become friends with him until I was older, but he's a good friend to have." He explained, smiling when he thought about how nervous and shy Neville had been in his first year at Hogwarts. "And..." He trailed off as he realised what he was thinking about. "And you're going to meet so many new people." He finished off, completely changing what he was going to say.

Ron, he was going to say Ron. Ron that had abandoned him so many times over the years. Ron that was so full of jealously and envy that it drove everyone away from him. Ron who was so lazy and sure of his pride that he belittled everyone around him who studied and wanted to improve themselves because he couldn't be bothered to do it for himself.

Looking back on those times it was painfully obvious how Ron had held him back during his years at Hogwarts, and how many times he'd made Hermione cry over the years with his stupid angry comments about her studying habits or her teeth or her hair.

"Friends," The younger Harry whispered, still in shock as the thought registered with him. "I'm going to have friends?"

"Yeah, great friends, I promise you." Harry grinned across to his younger self, silently promising to himself that he wasn't going to let Ron, Dumbledore, or any of the other idiots around the wizarding world ruin his life like they had done for him. "When you're finished, I'll show you the magic shops and... the bank." He trailed off with a grin. He didn't have to wait for Hagrid to give him the key this time, he had the key to his vault and his family vault on his keyring and had access to everything this time around. "We can get you some clothes as well, I remember how it felt wearing Dudley's old clothes. Like an elf wearing Hagrids clothes." He explained with a snort of laughter that caused his younger self to laugh along, though the look on his face told him he didn't quite get the joke.

"Go on, eat up, we've got a busy day ahead." Harry grinned across to his younger self before sitting back and finishing his own sandwich off.

Oh yes, a busy day certainly. There was so much he needed to do, so much that he was going to change, and he needed to get started on it immediately.

* * *

**Gringotts**  
**Diagon Alley**  
**London**

"And these... are goblins." Harry explained to his younger self in a whisper as he led him up the white marble stairs into the bank.

Showing his younger self around Diagon Alley had been the most fun he'd had in years, quite possibly the most fun he'd ever had. After explaining to himself about keeping his scar hidden, he'd transfigured a cap for his younger self to wear and brushed his own messy hair down to hide the scar.

They'd managed to pass anonymously through Diagon Alley as he'd shown his younger self around, laughing at the excitement and energy his ten year old self ran around with and the enthusiasm he showed about learning everything about the new world that was unfolding in front of his eyes.

"Never be rude to goblins, they might be grumpy, but that's just how they are. Be nice to them and they'll... well, they'll still be grumpy, but it'll save you a lot of hassle." Harry explained down to his younger self in a whisper with a shared grin as he led him over to the counter.

"Yes?" The desk goblin drawled out, looking down at both Harry's with a disinterested snarl.

"I'm here to speak with the Potter account manager." Harry said bluntly, looking up at the goblin and catching his eyes.

He'd never had the best of relationships with the goblins, not since the end of the war when they'd practically destroyed the bank flying the dragon out of it anyway, he'd only managed to repair some of the relationship by giving up all the goblin silver in the Black vaults, but even that wasn't enough to stop the goblins from levying heavy fines against him that took nearly half of the Black fortune Sirius had left to him.

"One side, you will be seen too shortly." The goblin nodded down.

"Come on," Harry whispered down to his younger self, stepping out of the way and to the side of the bank floor. He was happy it was a quiet day in the bank, though he'd been keeping his voice down anyway to prevent anyone from overhearing him.

It was only a few minutes before a goblin guard approached and gruffly ordered them to follow him before leading them through the various corridors of the bank and up to the second floor then through to one of the offices at the front of the building.

"You are Mr Potter?" The goblin inside the office stared over at them both, but focused on the younger Harry with a glare. "The elder Potter is deceased. Who are you?" He snarled out, looking up at the older Harry. "If you are lying or attempting to gain access to the Potter vaults, your heads will hang on the wall as trophies."

"Then I request a test of blood to prove lineage and access to my families vault." Harry said bluntly, staring across at the goblin and not flinching from his gaze.

"A test of blood?" The goblin asked, looking up at the older Harry as if he'd done something interesting. "The Potter vaults are keyed to blood, only those with a key can access the vaults."

"I request all current keys locked out, and a new vault secured only to our blood, so only those with Potter blood can enter them." Harry explained bluntly, looking across at the goblin and nodding in satisfaction when the goblin bared his teeth in a snarled smile.

"If your blood is that of the Potter line, it will be done. If not..." The goblin trailed off.

"If not then our heads will hang as trophies, our blood will wet your blades... yadda yadda yadda." Harry waved off the threat, doing his best to ignore how his younger self was looking up at him as if he was crazy.

The goblin nodded at that, bringing out a bowl and a wicked looking knife before placing them on the office desk in front of him and looking up to the older Harry before holding the knife out for him. "Your blood?"

Harry simply nodded, taking the knife and using it to slice open his fingertip slightly, letting a few drops drip down into the bowl before it glowed a bright red in response.

"You are of the Potter line." The goblin announced gruffly, seemingly annoyed that his threats weren't going to be carried out.

"It's alright, just cut your finger and let the blood drip into the bowl. I'll heal it when we get outside." Harry explained to his younger self, holding out the dagger for him to take.

The younger Harry looked up dubiously for a second before steeling himself and nodding, taking the dagger and pressing the point into his index finger before hissing slightly at the pain and holding his finger over the bowl to let a few drops fall into it.

"You are also of the Potter line." The goblin nodded as the bowl glowed red again. "You wish for your vaults to be moved to the high security floor?"

"I do," Harry said with a firm nod. "Access by blood only, no keys."

"As you say," The goblin nodded back. "I am Master Warwick, I have held the Potter accounts for six years now. I was... unaware there were more than a single Potter still alive."

"And that's the way I'd like to keep it." Harry said bluntly.

"Very well." Master Warwick snarled back. "The current Potter Vaults are vaults six hundred and eighty five, six hundred and eighty six, and six hundred and eighty seven has been set aside for a trust vault for Harry James Potter."

"Combine them all, Harry can access the full vault whenever he wants." Harry explained with a nod.

"Unusual, but acceptable." Master Warwick nodded. "Visitation to the high security vaults is done only by request, do you wish for an appointment to see the vaults?"

"Not needed, I've seen them before." Harry explained with a nod, remembering well how he'd been down to the high security vaults when they'd broken into the Lestrange vault. "The high security vaults can only be opened by blood or by a Gringotts goblin."

"It is as you say," Master Warwick smiled back, baring sharp teeth as he nodded along. "It is unusual to meet a wizard who pays attention to things."

"I know how these things work." Harry smiled. "I'd like to withdraw five hundred galleons, with a moleskin pouch as well, payment for the pouch can be taken separately from the vault."

"The pouch will be seven sickles, do you agree?" Master Warwick asked.

"Agreed," Harry nodded back.

"Wait here, I will see to your requests and return to you when I am done." Master Warwick nodded, moving around from his desk before moving out of the office, closing the door behind him and leaving the two Harry's alone with the goblin guard standing by the door and watching over them impassively.


	3. Chapter 3

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Diagon Alley**  
**London**

Harry grinned to himself as he led his younger self out of the bank, everything had gone exactly the way he'd intended it to go, he'd secured his family vaults, gained access to everything for both him and his younger self, and prevented Dumbledore and The Weasley's from ever using the key they had to get into it.

He remembered several times through Hogwarts when The Weasley's had somehow had access to his vault, but back then he'd never asked why or how they'd got access, and he'd never had an adult around that could stop them, but now he could head it all off before it had even started.

"What... what was that about?" The younger Harry asked, still sucking his index finger and frowning at the pinprick of blood that was still welling up on it.

"Security," Harry explained, kneeling down so he could be the same height as his younger self. "Here." He said, bringing out his wand and tapping it to the index finger with a silently cast healing spell that knitted the skin back together perfectly. "Now you don't have to worry about keys or anything, if you ever need any money, you can go right in, or just ask me and I can go in for you." He explained with a shrug as he stood back up.

"Ok?" The younger Harry frowned up thoughtfully. "What now?"

"We can get your stuff for Hogwarts now if you want, or head home and talk about all those questions you've got?" Harry said with a grin as he looked down at his younger self. "I was your age once, I remember what it was like." He explained with a snort of laughter at Harry's bemused expression. "School doesn't start until the first of September, so we've got plenty of time."

"Should we get the things now then? So we don't have to worry about them later on?" The younger Harry asked hesitantly.

"Can do," Harry nodded down patiently, doing his best to show his younger self that it was alright to make decisions on his own, as he'd be making a lot more of them soon enough. "Robes, books, cauldron, the usual bits." He explained with a shrug. "Think we can sneak in a broom there as well." He explained with a smirk and a wink to his younger self as he started walking away from the bank.

"A broom?" The younger Harry whispered.

"Flying," Harry grinned down as he led his younger self down the alley towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. "You're going to be really good at it." He explained as they approached the store, leaving the younger Harry to step forwards and stare at the broom in the window in awe.

"Really?" The younger Harry whispered, not looking away from the shiny broom on display.

"Really really." Harry confirmed. "Come on, lets get the rest of your things first and we can see how things go from there."

"Alright," The younger Harry grinned as he pulled himself away from the Quidditch store. "Where first?"

"Wands." Harry said, blowing out a huff of air. "Right, I'll give you a warning before we head down. Getting your wand is... it's going to be weird."

"Weird?" The younger Harry asked, wrinkling his nose in puzzlement. "Weird how?"

"The wand you're going to get... it's going to have a link to... the evil wizard who killed our parents." Harry whispered, then nodded when his younger self looked at him in shock.

"But... can't... can't I chose another wand?" The younger Harry whispered back.

"It doesn't work like that," Harry shook his head. "That wand... it's a good wand, you can trust me on that, it saw me through a lot."

"But you don't have it anymore?" The younger Harry asked, catching on to the tone in his voice.

"No, not for a while." Harry admitted. "It stopped working for me when I was about eighteen." He explained, simplifying things down for his younger self. He didn't need to go into the details about the Deathly Hallows and everything that had happened after school, at least not yet.

"Oh, OK." The younger Harry shrugged. "So it's not a bad wand then?"

"No," Harry smiled across reassuringly. "The feather inside it... it came from the same bird that the feather inside the evil wizard's wand did."

"Oh," The younger Harry frowned thoughtfully as he considered that. "Alright then." He nodded up.

"Alright," Harry smiled down, putting his hand on his younger self's shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly. "Come on then, let's get you your wand." He said with a grin as he led his younger self down the alley towards Ollivander's wand shop.

* * *

Amelia Bones had to blink twice to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her as she ushered her niece out of Madam Malkin's robe shop and into the alley outside. The man she'd been chasing for the last week was here, barely a few yards away from her and walking down Diagon Alley with who she was guessing was his son.

For the last week she'd been pulling up every little scrap of detail about James Potter that she could get her hands on, but nobody else had seen him, heard anything about him, or even heard whispers about him.

For all intents and purposes, James Potter had died on October thirty first nineteen eighty one with his wife, nearly a decade ago, which made his existence here a complete impossibility.

She'd done her best to find out exactly what had happened that night in eighty one, only to find that there'd barely even been an investigation, everything had been signed off and sealed by Minister Bagnold and Barty Crouch, and she couldn't access a damn thing. Even records of Harry Potter's current whereabouts were sealed and locked away, this time by order of the Chief Warlock Albus bloody Dumbledore, leaving her with even more questions.

"Why don't we get your wand now?" She said abruptly as she watched the two Potters head into Ollivander's wand shop. "Save us a trip later?"

"Are you sure auntie?" Susan asked, looking up at her aunt with wide eyes. She'd wanted to get her wand for months now, but her aunt had been adamant about waiting until the last week before school as tradition dictated.

"We'll see," Amelia smiled down, ushering her niece forwards to walk down towards the wand store.

"Alright!" Susan grinned excitedly, moving quicker than her aunt so she could head down towards Ollivander's before she changed her mind.

Amelia bit back a laugh as she followed her niece towards the store, holding her parcel of robes in one arm and discreetly retrieving her wand with the other. James Potter had been an Auror, a good one, one of the best as far as she remembered. She'd only been in the squadrons back then when James had joined up, but she definitely knew his reputation, and if this was James, then she had a few questions for him, but if it wasn't, then she was sure going to get some answers.

She was barely a few steps behind Susan as her Nice practically ran into Ollivander's, following behind with a small laugh as Susan practically barrelled into a young wizard who was trying out wands under the watchful gaze of Garrick.

"Amelia my dear, I didn't expect to see you so soon." Garrick smiled over, beaming across as Amelia came through the door.

"Just with Susan here, you know how excited they get." Amelia chuckled at the half-hearted comment as she let the door close behind her. "Busy already?"

"Oh you know how I like the challenge," Garrick laughed back at her.

Amelia nodded at that, paying close attention to the two other people in the store with her. The younger one was definitely recognisable, even with the cap covering up most of his head, but she could definitely make out the scar peaking out from beneath it, making it certain that the younger boy was Harry Potter.

The older one was what was puzzling her. He was definitely a Potter, there was no two ways around it. That messy hair was definitely the same as James', and that dragon-skin coat was certainly the one Lily had bought for him. Everything about him was screaming to her that this was James Potter, apparently back from the dead.

* * *

Harry winced to himself as he recognised the two people entering the store. Susan was easy enough to recognise, her blue eyes and red hair in a loose plait down her back were exactly as he remembered her being, only a hell of a lot younger than the last time he'd seen her.

Amelia Bones was someone else entirely though. He'd only met the witch once, and that was during his trial when Fudge had dragged him in front of the Wizengamot for using his patronus to protect himself and Dudley from dementors.

She was a bit shorter than he was, but not by much, with short and curly silver hair and stern steel coloured eyes, and was currently looking at him like he was a suspect in an interrogation chamber.

"Amelia my dear, I didn't expect to see you so soon."

Harry smiled at the comment as Amelia looked away from him to talk to Ollivander, leaving him time to glance at Harry and shake his head quickly, hoping that he got the message across to keep quiet about things.

"Just with Susan here, you know how excited they get. Busy already?"

The younger Harry definitely caught on and nodded up to his older self, looking at the girl who had come into the store and was looking around with an excited grin on her face.

"Oh you know how I like the challenge,"

Harry had to smirk at that, Garrick definitely liked the challenge. He remembered how long it had taken him to find his wand the first time around, and things seemed to be progressing exactly the same way.

"Well Mr Potter, do you need a rest, or shall we continue?" Garrick asked, looking down to young Harry and ignoring the groan from behind him.

Harry was dragging his hand down his face in frustration at Garrick's comment, apparently the old wizard didn't have a subtle bone in his body, or simply didn't care about outing Harry to the other people in the shop.

"You're Harry Potter!" The girl said with an excited gasp, looking over to him in shock.

"Leave him alone Susan, he's just buying his wand exactly the same as you are." Amelia said with a small smile, noticing the embarrassed blush on young Harry's face. "Amelia Bones, but, you already knew that, didn't you James?" She asked with a sly smirk, looking over and holding her hand out.

Harry blinked for a second in confusion before realising that Madame Bones was talking to him and quickly moved to accept the hand, shaking it loosely. "Madame Bones." He said with a small nod, while inwardly cursing up a storm that would have made his younger self stare at him in shock.

"James? James Potter... but... you're... you're dead!" Susan whispered out, staring between Harry and the man in question. The resemblance was definitely there, the hair, the eyes, the faces, but it couldn't be.

"We should talk." Amelia said, fixing James with a glare.

"Probably," Harry admitted with a grimace, wondering how the hell he was going to get out of this one as his younger self stepped aside to let Susan try out a few wands. "It's not what you think." He admitted quietly towards Amelia.

"Oh? So you didn't fake your own death for the last ten years then?" Amelia asked with a wry smile.

"What? No? Of course not?" Harry spluttered out quickly before realising what the denial had cost him and wincing visibly as Amelia stared at him in shock. "Damnit." He muttered to himself, that would have actually been the perfect explanation, that he was really James and that he'd faked his own death to keep Harry out of danger.

"This sounds like a story I'd like to hear." Amelia said firmly, staring at Harry now and tapping her wand on her shoulder.

"Probably," Harry admitted with a grimace. "We should..."

"Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious..." Garrick interrupted, clapping loudly as the wand in the younger Harry's hand burst into life with a trail of golden sparks.

"Here we go," Harry muttered to himself, not really in the mood for the theatrics anymore. "Eleven Inches, holly and a phoenix feather core." He said bluntly.

"Yes, yes precisely Mr Potter." Garrick smiled up. "I had no idea you were so well versed in wandlore." He said with a wide smile. "Of course, that wand is very special you know."

"The phoenix that gave it's feather gave another." Harry said with a flat look towards Garrick. "I don't think we need to say who, do we?" He said firmly, fixing Garrick with a glare that made him step back for a moment.

"No, not at all." Garrick nodded quickly. "But it is curious, you have to admit."

Harry simply shrugged at that. "A wand holster and a care kit too."

"Nine galleons and seven sickles." Garrick said quietly as he fumbled around to get the wand holder and care kit from behind the counter.

"You-know-who?" Amelia whispered, having stepped closer to James so he was the only person that could hear her. Her thoughts were confirmed when he nodded back with a dark expression on his face. "Poor kid." She whispered, looking down at Harry with a wince at the knowledge she now had about his wand.

"Not if I have anything to do about it." Harry said bluntly as he paid for the wand, holster and care kit.

"Wait," Amelia said, putting her hand on James' shoulder as he moved to leave the store with Harry following. "We need to talk." She said firmly, her eyes flicking over to where Susan was continuing to try out different wands.

"You're the department head of the DMLE," Harry said with a shrug. "Are you going to arrest me?" He asked bluntly.

"No," Amelia shook her head. "But I'd like some answers. Like why you were in the Leaky Cauldron a week ago knocking back fire-whiskey like it was water."

"You were there?" Harry asked, blinking in surprise at that piece of knowledge. His situational awareness was pretty damn good, and he'd been certain that there hadn't been anyone in the pub that would have recognised him. "Fine, where?"

"Where are you living now?" Amelia countered.

Harry snorted at that, shaking his head. "I'm not exactly going to tell you that, am I?" He asked with a smirk.

"You don't trust me?" Amelia demanded, narrowing her eyes at the comment.

"The Ministry is full of corrupt idiots who just buy their way out of anything they can. There's pure-blood bigots at every corner, and Malfoy is leading Fudge around by the short and curlies." Harry said bluntly, watching Amelia for any reaction. "Give me one reason why I should trust anyone that works in that cesspool?"

Amelia had to pause at that, the fact was, nothing James had said had been a lie. The Ministry was full of corrupt idiots, and it was definitely true that ninety percent, if not more, of The Ministry were pure-blood idiots and bigots, and yes, Lucius Malfoy did have Minister Fudge's ear and quite happily manipulated him around to get everything he wanted, that was well known to pretty much everyone who paid attention to that sort of thing.

Which left her in a rather dubious position. How could she convince James Potter she was to be trusted, when she worked in such a corrupt Ministry?

Seizing the opportunity that was presented to him, Harry grinned to himself for a moment before looking back to Madame Bones. "Sirius Black was thrown in Azkaban without a trial or even an investigation, he didn't betray my family, Peter Pettigrew did, but since Sirius never got a trial, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Amelia stepped back in shock at that, the vehemence in James' voice shocking her into silence as she stared up into his emerald eyes. She prided herself on her ability to read people, and everything she knew was screaming to her right now that James was telling the truth. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" She demanded.

"Who?" Harry countered. "The Ministry that locked him away without a trial?" He asked with a snort. "The Wizengamot who are just as corrupt and bigoted as The Ministry are? They're still full of Death Eaters anyway, so what would be the point?" He ticked off his finger with another derisive snort. "The Daily Prophet who only writes what Fudge, sorry, whatever Malfoy tells Fudge he wants them to write?" He asked, ticking off another finger.

Amelia winced at every statement, having to admit that it was all true.

"So tell me Madame Bones, why should I trust a Ministry that locks innocent people away in Azkaban without even giving them a trial first?" Harry asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets and discretely wrapping his hand around his wand as his younger self came to stand alongside him.

"I... I didn't know." Amelia said softly, but even the excuse sounded pathetic to her ears.

"Auntie?" Susan whispered from where she'd been stood, watching the argument in shock. "Is... is that true? Do you really throw people in Azkaban without a trial?"

"Susan, it's not..."

"It happened ten years ago, before your aunt was in charge of the DMLE." Harry said quickly, looking over at Susan's distraught face. "I know your auntie didn't have anything to do with it." He said, looking back at Madame Bones.

"Bones Manor, we can go there once Susan has her wand." Amelia said firmly, nodding in thanks to the way James had just defended her honour. "I owe you that much at least."

Harry frowned thoughtfully, looking into Madame Bones' steel coloured eyes before nodding sharply at the invitation.

"Your son is also welcome, it'd be good for Susan to have some more friends before she starts Hogwarts." Amelia said with a small smile towards her niece, the awkward tension in the air somewhat evaporating as she saw James relax slightly.

"Can we... dad?" The younger Harry asked, grinning up at his older self with a cheeky smirk on his face.

"Fine," Harry huffed down, recognising the smirk on his younger self's face. "But you're not getting your broom today then."

The younger Harry shrugged at that, this was already the best day in his entire life, he could happily wait another week or another month to get a broom.

"I... I've found my wand?" Susan interrupted, holding up the wand in her hand.

"I'm sorry Susan, I completely missed it." Amelia winced as she turned her attention back to her niece properly. "What is it?"

"Cherry wood with a dragon heartstring." Susan said proudly, showing off her wand to her auntie.

"Oh a very nice wand indeed." Amelia smiled in approval. "Come on then, we should make our way back home. You are alright side alonging?" She asked, looking to James curiously.

"Sure," Harry nodded, watching as Amelia paid for Susan's wand.

"I had you and Lily over for dinner once, that was years ago though. Can you remember where it is?" Amelia asked, looking at James curiously to confirm whether it was really him or not.

"We can always floo," Harry shrugged back. "Have you got a pensieve, we'll probably need one." He admitted with a grimace, wondering if he could actually trust Amelia with what he was thinking about doing.

Susan had always been straight with him, and she'd never abandoned him or believed the worst of him. Over the years he'd heard more than a few stories about the legendary Amelia Bones, both from Susan and from other Aurors in the corps. If he could trust her, then she'd be an amazing witch to have on his side to help him out.

"I'm afraid not," Amelia shook her head.

"I'll bring mine then," Harry nodded. "We'll head home first and then floo over?"

"Bones Manor." Amelia said with a firm nod. "I'll be expecting you." She said before standing aside and bustling Susan out of the door so they could apparate away back home so she could get ready.

"Can one thing... just one thing, go according to plan?" Harry groused aloud as he watched out the window for Amelia to apparate away with Susan before he shook his head and left the store with his younger self in tow.

"Who... who was that?" The younger Harry asked, looking up at his older self.

"Madame Amelia Bones," Harry explained with a thoughtful look. "She's the head of the magical police." He simplified with a shrug.

"Oh," The younger Harry nodded at that. "Was... was all that stuff you said about Sirius true?"

"Every word." Harry nodded back. "She might be our best bet at getting Sirius out actually." He admitted with a sigh. "I think... think, we can trust her."

"Think?" The younger Harry frowned up at his older self. "Don't you work for her? If she's the head of the police and you're a magical policeman?"

"She died," Harry whispered down to his younger self. "In about five years time." He whispered, looking at his younger self and seeing how he would accept this. "She was killed by the same person who killed my... our parents."

"Oh," The younger Harry winced at that. "Can... are you... are you going to save her?"

"I'm going to try," Harry admitted. "I think I should tell her, about... about the future. Susan's going to be a good friend, she deserves to have her aunt around longer than she did when it first happened."

The younger Harry shook his head at that with a bemused expression on his face. "That's really confusing, you know that?"

"Think how I feel?" Harry grinned down to his younger self. "I'll tell her, and hopefully we don't have to run out of the country if it goes badly." He joked with a small smirk.

"Can we do that anyway?" The younger Harry grinned up. "I've never been anywhere."

"I know," Harry nodded down. "France maybe, it's nice and hot there, and the magical school over there is gorgeous."

"They have a magic school too?" The younger Harry asked, shock on his face as he thought about this.

"Come on," Harry laughed down. "Lets get home so we can floo over to the Bones' house."

"OK," The younger Harry shrugged, accepting this as he felt his older self hold onto his shoulder. "But... what's a floo?" He asked hopefully, looking up at his older self at the question.

Harry simply laughed to himself as he apparated away with his younger self, having completely forgotten about his own misadventures with the floo system when he was younger.

* * *

"Auntie?" Susan asked, looking up at her aunt as they both settled into the entrance hall at Bones Manor. "What... what did he mean? About The Ministry? Is it... is it really corrupt there?"

Amelia had to sigh as she turned to face her niece, not willing to lie to her about something as important as this. "There are problems, I won't deny that. Yes, bribery does happen, but I'm doing my best to push it out of The Ministry as much as I can."

"So it's true then? People have been thrown into Azkaban without doing anything wrong?" Susan whispered in shock.

"I've... I'd heard rumours, but I've never been able to find any proof of it." Amelia admitted. "Our world isn't perfect darling, no matter how much we wish it was."

"I know... it's just..." Susan frowned thoughtfully. Of course she knew the world wasn't perfect, if it was then her parents wouldn't have been killed all those years ago. "How can you work for The Ministry when they do that to innocent people?" She asked, looking up at her aunt with complete confusion on her face. "If you're not stopping them, doesn't that..."

"Doesn't that make me just as bad as they are?" Amelia asked, completing her nieces question. "I've never stood aside and let someone break the law like that Susan, you have my promise on that. What happened with Sirius Black happened a lot time ago, and I'm going to do my best to see him out of Azkaban as soon as I can manage it."

"Alright," Susan nodded, accepting this for now.

Amelia nodded back, but had to admit to herself that it did hurt to see that her nieces' faith in her was visibly shaken by what she'd learnt today. She'd always tried her best to keep the darker side of their world from tainting Susan, but now she'd learnt about the corruption and dark side of The Ministry there was no way of going back.

"Susan, I want you..." Amelia trailed off as the fireplace burst into life, flashing green as James Potter's face appeared in the flames. "James." She nodded, moving to the fireplace.

"Are we OK to come through?"

"Of course, whenever you are ready." Amelia confirmed with a nod.

"Alright, might want to step aside, it'll be Harry's first time."

Amelia blinked in surprise at this, Susan had known how to use the floo since she was six, if Harry was now ten or eleven, why hadn't he been using the floo yet?

With that thought in her mind she remembered Susan's first adventure with floo travel and moved aside, absently casting a cushioning charm over the floor by the fireplace and readying a shield charm just in case.

Her predictions definitely held true a few seconds later as a blast of green fire deposited Harry Potter in the fire place, who stumbled and fell out of the fire and practically skidded along the ground into the welcoming hall.

"Harry, welcome to Bones Manor." Amelia said, chuckling to herself as she held her hand out to give Harry a hand standing up.

"Um, thank you." Harry grinned, accepting the hand and letting her pull him up off the ground. "Sorry, uh, sorry about the mess?"

"Quite alright," Amelia smiled, waving the thought off as she flicked her wand over Harry and cleaned off all the soot as she caught James stepping through the floo out of the corner of her eye. "James, nice to see you made it through."

"Madame Bones," Harry nodded as he stepped out of the fireplace.

"Amelia, please." Amelia said with a small nod of acknowledgement at the manners being displayed. "This is Susan, my niece. I believe you knew Edgar and Jessica?"

"Susan," Harry smiled across at the redhead that he actually knew far better than he knew Amelia.

"Why don't you show Harry around the grounds, stay inside the ward lines though." Amelia said with a smile over to her niece.

"Alright auntie." Susan grinned up. "Come on Harry," She laughed, beckoning for Harry to join her as she led him through to the doors and out of the main manor.

"So, you didn't fake your death?" Amelia asked bluntly, remembering James' denial back at Ollivander's. "Mind telling me exactly what happened then, because the entire world thinks you and Lily died back when You-Know-Who found you at Godric's Hollow."

Harry sighed but nodded, fishing the shrunken pensieve out of his pocket and holding it up for Amelia to see. "Got a table?" He asked with a shrug.

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a long story?" Amelia asked, narrowing her eyes as she flicked her wand towards one of the chairs in the room, transfiguring it into a chest high table that the pensieve could be seated on.

"Because it is," Harry grinned back as he put the pensieve down and then brought out the rest of his surprises. "Veritaserum, you'll probably want me to take that later." He admitted, holding up the bottle of the clear liquid. "And..."

"A mendax ball," Amelia looked over at the small golden ball that he'd brought out last. "There aren't many of those outside of the senior Aurors."

"I kept mine," Harry explained with a shrug, causing the ball to glow green in response. "And you can see it works." He said with a laugh as Amelia raised her eyebrow at him. "Go on." He nodded, tossing it over to her.

"My name is Cornelius Fudge." Amelia said aloud, causing the mendax ball to glow red in response before flicking her wand to it and casting her usual diagnostic charms. "Seems to work." She admitted with a nod as she tossed the ball back, raising an eyebrow at the impressive reflexes shown when it was snatched out of the air. "So, if you didn't fake your own death. What happened that night, and why is Sirius Black in Azkaban if he had nothing to do with it?"

"That... that's a long story." Harry admitted with a grimace, causing the ball in his hand to glow green in response. "A complicated story." He added on as he put the mendax ball down by the pensieve to stop it judging everything he said. "I don't know where to start?"

"The beginning?" Amelia said dryly.

"The beginning," Harry groaned, but nodded in agreement, picking up the mendax ball again. "My name is Harry James Potter. I was born July thirty first nineteen eighty." He said bluntly, holding up the mendax ball so Amelia could see it was glowing green. "And I got thrown back in time somehow to just over a week ago, the same day you saw me in the Leaky Cauldron."

Amelia blinked, then blinked again, and swallowed audibly as she continued to watch the mendax ball glow green in confirmation of everything James... no, Harry apparently, was saying.

"Voldemort's still alive, and he's going to be at Hogwarts soon, and he gets his body back in about four years, my time obviously." Harry continued on, ignoring the way Amelia blanched at his declaration. "So, pensieve or veritaserum first?" He asked with a smirk as Amelia continued to stare at him with a dumbfounded expression on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Bones Manor**  
**North West Kent**  
**England**

Amelia grimaced to herself as she swallowed back another mouthful of fire-whiskey, letting the burn trickle down her throat as she turned to stare at the thirty eight year old Harry Potter that seemed to be appraising her with his vibrant green eyes.

In the last hour and a half they'd been through the first three years of Harry's school life, and now had a much better understanding of Harry, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and a dozen other things that she now had a dire need of investigating.

You-Know-Who was really a half-blood, that alone was a kick in the teeth for all the Death Eaters out there, but the fact that he was still alive, and possessing Professor Quirrell at Hogwarts right now, was knowledge that chilled the blood in her veins.

"More?" Harry asked, holding out the bottle of fire-whiskey dubiously towards Amelia.

"Will I need it?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh definitely," Harry snorted in amusement. "Next up we've got the Goblet of Fire tournament, where Barty Crouch Junior got my name entered while he was polyjuiced as Mad-Eye Moody, he managed to work at Hogwarts all year without Dumbledore suspecting a thing, then got me into a graveyard at the end for a ritual to recreate Voldemort's body using the bones of his father." He explained bluntly. "So, more?"

"Definitely," Amelia nodded, sliding her glass over towards the bottle of fire-whiskey.

"Thought so," Harry smirked over, pouring out a generous helping both for himself and for Amelia.

"I always knew Albus could be heartless, but this..." Amelia grimaced as she thought back to the highlights of the last year that she'd witnessed in the pensieve. "Why didn't he do anything for Sirius if he knew he was innocent? He could have stood for Sirius and vouched for him just like he did for Severus after the last war."

"I've thought a lot about that," Harry admitted with a shrug. "Best I can figure, he wanted to keep Sirius away from me. If he's on the run as a wanted man, I had to go back to my relatives every year and wasn't learning anything from Sirius in the holidays between school."

"It does seem that way," Amelia nodded, it was a very logical conclusion that fit all the facts. "I've never thought highly of Albus Dumbledore, I've never hidden that fact."

"I always wondered why..." Harry frowned thoughtfully. "When Dumbledore got his Order of the Phoenix back together, he invited everyone that was still around that could face Voldemort, but he never invited you. I always wondered why not?"

"Because I'd have told him where to shove it." Amelia said bluntly. "Albus bloody Dumbledore is the reason my brother... Susan's parents were killed in the last war. They died on some half-arsed mission he sent them on because they always believed Albus bloody Dumbledore practically pissed Felix Felicis. I always thought he had a spy in the Death Eaters and sent them to die to cover up his spy's actions when he could have prevented it, but now I know..."

"Snape." Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"Severus." Amelia confirmed with a nod.

Harry had told explained about Snape during the first year's memories, though knowing he was a spy didn't really change anything much about Snape's behaviour really. He was still a bully, a bigot, and a tormentor. He was just doing it on Dumbledore's orders now instead of off his own choice.

"Snape let people die last time around too, in the future, or whatever. Charity Burbage, and he let kids get tortured when the Death Eaters took over the school, just to keep up his spy act. Dumbledore doesn't really care about people, or anyone really." Harry explained bluntly as he swallowed a mouthful of whiskey. "He's only interested in his end goal, and if he has to sacrifice a school full of children to do it, then..." He trailed off with a shrug. "He'd do it without a second thought."

Amelia grimaced as she nodded in agreement with that. His memories of his first year of school had proved that much alone. Albus Dumbledore had known Voldemort was after the Philosophers Stone and had intentionally lured him to Hogwarts.

He'd intentionally lured a mass murderer into a school full of innocent children. That was the bottom line. There was no defence for that as far as she was concerned, that fact alone was making her seriously consider sending Susan to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts this year.

"First things first, how are you going to deal with... with Voldemort?" Amelia asked, forcing herself to say the fearful name. "You say he's possessing this Professor... Quirrell was it?"

"Well, I was thinking of just punching him in his face until he turns to dust." Harry grinned across at her, nearly making her choke on her whiskey as she tried to imagine the sight.

"You're serious?" Amelia snorted in amusement when she saw Harry's grin.

"Why not?" Harry shrugged. "Whatever magic that's protecting me from Voldemort turned Quirrell to dust when he tried to grab me. It'll work just as well in a punch."

"Probably," Amelia admitted with a nod. "Did you ever find out exactly what it was that protected you from his touch?"

"Hermione thought it was some sort of sacrificial protection, but we never really investigated it properly." Harry explained. "Dumbledore said something similar, but I'd trust his words about as far as I could throw Hagrid." He explained with a laugh.

"Good reasoning," Amelia nodded in agreement with both points. "And this blood bond reasoning Albus gave for you returning to your relatives? I've never heard of such a thing."

"Because it's a pile of shit," Harry explained bluntly. "Dumbledore claims he placed the charm on me, but I've seen Minerva's memory of that night, he didn't do a damn thing. He was lying out of his arse, again. He just wanted to keep me at The Dursley's so I'd see him as some sort of saviour each year when I escaped back to Hogwarts."

Amelia nodded again, unable to find fault with anything Harry was saying. "Albus... Albus lies a lot, I've caught him in his own lies more than a few times over the years. It's one of the reasons he stays out of my way at The Ministry."

"He's not going to get away with anything this time around." Harry said with a firm nod, turning his words into a vow for himself. "I'll take him down myself if I need to."

"Could you?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Albus might be... well, a pathological liar, manipulator, and general menace, but he's not to be trifled with."

"Yes, he really is." Harry smirked in amusement. "Dumbledore isn't that powerful, trust me on that. He's barely equal to Voldemort, and that when he's boosting up his own power."

"Boosting up his power?" Amelia asked, looking at Harry curiously at the statement. "Albus is the one person Voldemort feared."

"Only because..." Harry paused, frowning thoughtfully. "He has a special wand, it's not really important though, but it boosts his power. Without it, he's a far second rate to Voldemort."

"I... I see." Amelia frowned thoughtfully, not having ever heard of a wand with that particular power before. "And you can counter it?"

"I'm Voldemort's equal without Dumbledore's fancy wand, with it?" Harry smirked in amusement as Amelia's eyes went wide. "Dumbledore isn't a threat, trust me on that. The wand works great for anyone else, but for my family, it's like an heirloom of power."

"The Potters?" Amelia asked in confusion.

"Peverell." Harry explained after a moment's pause, grinning when he saw the flicker of recognition in Amelia's eyes before they went wider than he'd ever seen.

"The Elder Wand." Amelia whispered reverently. "Albus had it all these years?"

"That's where his reputation about being so powerful comes from, he took it from Grindlewald." Harry nodded in confirmation. "All his reputation is built on stories and hear say after he got the wand, it's all because of that. Take it away or counter it, and he's a second rate wizard at best. He's got enough knowledge secreted away to make him valuable, but he's not a threat magically in any way."

"And... the..." Amelia stammered out.

"The cloak and the stone?" Harry asked in amusement before nodding. "I have them too."

"Are they really... were they... I mean..." Amelia tried to gather her thoughts as she looked at Harry in shock.

"Made by Death?" Harry asked with a smirk. "Honestly, I don't know." He admitted with a shrug. "I don't think so, and I've got all three of them. It doesn't make me this Master of Death or some god like wizard or anything." He explained with a snort of laughter. "I think they were made by the three brothers actually, they just made up the story about Death giving them them as gifts to boost their reputation." He said with a shrug. "That's my theory anyway."

"And you... you're the last descendant?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Aside from Voldemort." Harry nodded back then clarified when she looked at him in confusion. "His mother was from the Gaunt family, they trace back to the Peverell's as well. Cadmus I think, the one with the resurrection stone." He explained with a smirk. "Hell, being obsessed with cheating death must run in the family for him." He said with a grin.

"You have a strange sense of humour, you know that?" Amelia muttered, rubbing her forehead in frustration at everything she'd learnt this afternoon.

"I've been told," Harry admitted with a smirk. "So, what now?" He asked, gently tossing his empty glass between his hands as he focused on looking over at Amelia.

"What now indeed." Amelia nodded thoughtfully, draining her own glass with a grimace as the fiery liquid burnt down her throat. "Obviously stopping... Voldemort is the priority here."

"I can take care of that," Harry nodded thoughtfully. "I know where his Horcruxes are. Malfoy still has the diary, so I can't get to that one." He explained, ticking off one finger. "The Locket is still at Grimmauld place, I'd need Sirius to get that one." He explained, ticking off another finger. "The tiara thing is at Hogwarts." He ticked off a third finger. "The ring is buried in Little Hangleton, I can get to that one easily enough. I saw enough of the memories of it to find it." He explained with a nod. "The cup is in the Lestrange Vault at Gringotts, I've got no idea how to get that one this time around." He admitted with a grimace.

"Gringotts?" Amelia frowned thoughtfully. "How did you destroy it last time?"

"Broke into Gringotts and rode a dragon out, pretty much destroying the bank in the process." Harry admitted with a grin.

Amelia practically choked when she realised he was serious, and shook her head at the thought. "You'll be showing me that memory sometime I hope?" She asked with a small smile. "The Lestrange's are in Azkaban, I doubt I'd be able to get the goblins to cooperate in handing over access to their vault."

Harry nodded at that, the cup was the only one that was really a puzzle. "He doesn't create another Horcrux until ninety four, so we've got three years grace to round the rest up."

"Assuming he doesn't change his plans when you face him at Hogwarts." Amelia countered with a frown.

"You think I shouldn't?" Harry asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"You'd bloody better, or I'll be pulling Susan out of that school before her first week is out." Amelia glared back at him. "There's no way in hell I'm letting my niece stay in that building with You-Know-Who skulking around."

"Fair point," Harry mused thoughtfully.

"And countering Albus and Severus?" Amelia prompted him.

"Dumbledore... He'll be a problem." Harry admitted with a frown. "Taking my younger self out of his control, he'll... he'll throw his dummy out of the pram and start making things difficult. He has a pathological need to be in control and be the person manipulating everyone from behind the scenes."

"I'd assumed as much." Amelia nodded in agreement. "He'll likely try and drag you before the Wizengamot or attempt to drug you with veritaserum."

"Probably both," Harry grimaced. "That's when his grandfather act doesn't work and his 'I'm so disappointed in you' speech falls flat." He explained with a smirk. "Then he'll probably finish with his 'you're going dark' threatening speech before he resorts to anything else."

"Ah, you've been on the receiving end of those too I see," Amelia chuckled in amusement. "Keeping up the pretence that you're James Potter might be your best bet actually."

"Hmm?" Harry mused, looking at Amelia and wondering what she was thinking.

"It'll keep the spotlight away from the younger Harry, and give you autonomy to prevent Albus from taking control again." Amelia explained. "A few sightings here and there, a leaked story to The Prophet, then you turn up at Harry's sorting at Hogwarts and confront both Voldemort and Dumbledore at the same time."

"Possibly," Harry admitted thoughtfully. "My dad... he had brown eyes though, at least from what I've been told. I got my eyes from my mum."

"I'd assumed so," Amelia nodded. "I knew Lily far better than I knew James, and honestly couldn't have told you what colour his eyes were without referring to a photo."

"He only wore glasses for reading as well, Sirius told me that." Harry mused as he tried to think up anything else he could remember about his father.

"He was an Auror, a good one, one of the best." Amelia smiled over. "I was a year above him at Hogwarts, but I didn't really know him well back then."

"I've heard the stories," Harry nodded, knowing full well his father wasn't the saint a lot of people made him out to be. "What house were you in?"

"Hufflepuff," Amelia smiled proudly. "It's actually a weight off my mind to know that Susan will find herself sorted into my old house as well."

"She's a good friend," Harry smiled knowingly. "She'll be an amazing friend later on." He explained with a small laugh.

"Oh? You and Susan?" Amelia smirked over.

"Nothing like that," Harry laughed, waving the thought away. "We had a few dates, that was... god, a few years after Hogwarts. She joined the Aurors like I did. We worked together and had a few dates after long shifts, but it never went anywhere."

"Why not?" Amelia asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"We're too similar," Harry admitted with a shrug. "Both of us had our share of ghosts, and we were still moving past the war and everything that happened." He explained with a sigh.

"Did... did she ever meet anyone?" Amelia asked hesitantly.

"She had a boyfriend I think, it wasn't something we really talked about much." Harry explained with an apologetic smile. "Sorry I can't tell you more."

"What about you? Did you ever find anyone?" Amelia asked curiously.

"A string of mistakes," Harry chuckled to himself. "Ginny Weasley, a fangirl who was only interested in my fame. That spluttered out early on when her mother tried to control my life just as much as Dumbledore had. I got out of that one before she started playing for the Harpies"

"I know the Weasleys, Arthur anyway. Works at The Ministry." Amelia nodded back.

"Arthur's a good guy, Molly's a controlling busybody who screams and shouts at anyone who dares disagree with her." Harry explained.

"I saw in your memories, your first train ride to Hogwarts?" Amelia frowned thoughtfully. "She was there, yelling about platform nine and three quarters while walking through the muggle side of the station?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was Dumbledore's plan to integrate me into the Weasleys." Harry nodded in agreement, seeing what Amelia was thinking. "Not exactly subtle, but I didn't know any better back then."

"I'll have some Aurors posted at the station this time around, even if she was following Albus' orders, I can't let a breach of secrecy like that go without coming down on her for it." Amelia frowned back. "I assume Mr Weasley doesn't grow out of his childish ways any time soon?"

"Ron?" Harry snorted, shaking his head at the thought. "He gets worse really. Fourth year he's one of the leaders who thinks I entered my name in the Goblet of Fire, kicks up a fuss about it and treats me like crap until I finish the first task, then when I'm popular again he's all buddy buddy and back in the spotlight." He explained with a frown before reaching for the fire-whiskey and pouring out another glass before offering it to Amelia.

"I'd better not," Amelia shook her head towards the bottle.

Shrugging at that Harry put the cork back in the bottle before continuing on his thoughts. "Seventh year, well, what should have been our seventh year anyway. He abandons us when we're hunting down the horcruxes, but that's never part of the story he tells when he's reliving the glory days to spread his fame around." He explained with a sigh. "He's a jealous and petty idiot with anger problems and a chip on his shoulder the size of Gryffindor tower. I'll tell the other me all about him and why he should stay away from him."

"I see," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "A nice distraction by the way, moving away from your story about your dalliances."

Harry grinned, raising his glass in a mock toast towards Amelia. "You spotted that then?" He asked with a smirk. "Alright, Cho Chang. That was a mess, it sort of fizzled out before we even got anywhere. Not that we really had anything in common anyway besides both playing seeker." He explained with a shrug. "Those were the only two girls I ever kissed at Hogwarts."

"Really?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow in shock. "And afterwards?" She asked curiously.

"A few," Harry nodded. "Katie Bell, we had a thing for a few months while she was playing for Puddlemere."

"You seem to have a thing for Quidditch players," Amelia smirked in amusement at the pattern.

"I noticed, me and Katie might have been something, but I was too invested in the Aurors, and she was making her mark for Puddlemere, so it never got as serious as it could have been." Harry shrugged back. "A few dates with Susan, a smattering of dates here and there."

"And Hermione?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm surprised nothing ever happened between the two of you."

"Honestly, so am I." Harry admitted with a sigh. "I wanted to, a few times." He admitted, ruffling his hair in frustration. "By the time I'd got up the nerve to do anything about it, she'd left the magical world and was living with the muggles again. I couldn't be the person to drag her back into all of this, not when she'd finally got out of it all."

"Ah," Amelia nodded, seeing the regret in Harry's eyes for what it was. She was the one for him, and he'd let her leave so she could be happy rather than make her chose between her life and a life with him. "Why did she leave? She seemed rather bright and full of life?"

"The bigotry," Harry explained with a shrug. "It started in Hogwarts, and got worse when Voldemort came back." He explained bluntly. "When we defeated him, Minister Shacklebolt explained that me and Ron would be getting awarded the Order of Merlin medals but..."

"She wouldn't." Amelia nodded. "There's never been a muggle-born awarded an Order of Merlin."

"Exactly," Harry frowned in frustration. "She started working at The Ministry after Hogwarts, passed all of her NEWT's with O's, and then suffered with getting passed over for promotion time after time for pure-blood idiots who simply got promoted just because of their families."

"I don't blame her for leaving." Amelia grimaced, it wasn't painting a very welcome picture of her world at all.

"I'm giving it four years this time." Harry said bluntly, tossing back the glass of fire-whiskey and draining it in a single gulp. "If by the end of fourth year Voldemort isn't dealt with and the pure blood bullshit stamped out, I'll take Harry, Hermione and anyone else that wants to go, and leave this country for good. Voldemort can have it, the idiots around deserve him." He explained bitterly.

"You don't mean that," Amelia frowned over.

"Maybe," Harry groused, rolling the glass between his hands in frustration. "What did we ever accomplish? Bugger all, that's what. Twenty years on, Voldemort's gone, but the pure blood bigots are still running the show. The Ministry's still corrupt, the Wizengamot is still full of bribery and back alley deals, and the world's just as fucked up as it was when I started Hogwarts. Nothings changed."

"You can't expect to change the world overnight." Amelia said with a comforting smile. "We can only do what we can."

"Overnight would be a miracle, twenty years, I'd say that's giving them enough of a chance." Harry explained with a shrug.

"Maybe," Amelia admitted with a sigh. "Well, let's work on what we can first. Disguising you as your father."

Harry nodded as he put his glass aside and thought about it for a second. "A glamour won't do, Dumbledore or Mad-Eye would see right through it. I'll have to do it like the muggles do."

"Muggles?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Contact lenses that change the eye colour, easy enough to get hold of." Harry explained with a dismissive wave. "Makeup to cover up the scar, I've done that enough times when I wanted some piece and quiet for a bit."

"Will that be enough?" Amelia asked with a thoughtful glance.

"Nobody will think I'm a future Harry, that's just crazy." Harry explained with a grin. "They'll check for glamours and polyjuice, then when those don't show up anything..."

"They'll jump to the simplest conclusion, that you're James Potter." Amelia nodded in agreement. "It should work. And I agree, nobody is going to think you're your future self, especially not if you're stood alongside him. Everyone knows time turners can't go back that far, and even if they could, you wouldn't be able to interact with yourself without going crazy."

"Who said I'm not crazy?" Harry asked with a small smirk, looking over at Amelia who burst into laughter at his comment, nodding her head to concede the point that he had to at least be a little bit crazy after everything he'd been through.

* * *

"They look cosy." Susan commented with a smile, looking through the window at where her auntie and Harry's dad were sharing a drink and chatting between themselves.

"Yeah," Harry nodded thoughtfully. "I wonder what they're talking about?"

"Grown up stuff," Susan shrugged. "Auntie talks a lot about Auror stuff and work at The Ministry, it's all pretty boring really."

"I'll bet," Harry smiled in agreement. "So what other classes will we have at Hogwarts?"

"I'm looking forward to charms the most," Susan grinned with a little excited bounce. "Transfiguration is supposed to be really tough, but my aunt's really good at it."

"And that... um... Defence stuff?" Harry prompted her.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts." Susan explained. "Yeah, I guess, but everyone's going to be expecting me to to brilliant at it because of who my aunt is."

"Probably me too," Harry admitted with a grimace.

"Oh god, I didn't mean..." Susan trailed off. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that."

"It's alright," Harry shrugged the comment off. "What about the rest?"

"Potions, the teacher is supposed to be a real creep." Susan explained in a whisper. "I've heard friends talking about him, and he hates everyone."

"Why's he even a teacher then?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Nobody knows," Susan shook her head. "But everyone's afraid of getting on his wrong side. So I'll just be hiding at the back in potions class and hoping he doesn't pick on me for anything."

"Hmm," Harry nodded at that, making a mental note to ask his older self about potions and what the teacher was really like.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" Susan asked curiously. "I'm hoping I get into Hufflepuff like my auntie and my mum was, but my dad was in Gryffindor, so..." She trailed off with a shrug.

"Gryffindor could be fun," Harry admitted with a grin, his older self having already told him that he was in Gryffindor and made some great friends there.

"I bet you'll be trying out for Quidditch as well right?" Susan grinned in amusement.

"Definitely," Harry grinned back, remembering what his older self had told him about how he was going to be brilliant on a broomstick.

"We might be cheering against each other then," Susan explained with a mock glare. "Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor."

"Doesn't mean we can't be friends though, even if we are in different houses right?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Of course not," Susan smiled happily back. "Well, as long as you're not in Slytherin anyway."

"That's the snake house right?" Harry asked.

"Definitely," Susan nodded back. "I've never heard of a Slytherin ever being friends with anyone outside of their house before."

"Wow, sounds lonely." Harry mused thoughtfully.

"Maybe," Susan admitted with a shrug. "Maybe if they weren't bullying everyone else then people would be friendlier towards them."

Maybe," Harry parroted back with a grin.

"What about my auntie and your dad then?" Susan said with a laugh. "If they started dating, we could be brother and sister." She smiled eagerly at the thought.

"I don't... I don't know if... dad is looking to date anyone." Harry managed to get out without laughing.

"Why not?" Susan asked curiously. "He makes my aunt laugh, that's rare enough, and she seems to make him happy as well."

"I don't even know if he's dating anyone at the moment," Harry frowned thoughtfully, not really wanting to get into scary thoughts of what his older self was doing with girls.

"I think they'd be cute together," Susan explained with a shrug.

Harry simply frowned at that, looking back through the window and sparing his older self with a curious glance. How much had his life changed just in the single day he'd found out about magic? His older self had been living with it for practically forever, things like flying on broomsticks and travelling through fireplaces were normal for him, but something he was still finding really weird.

"You two doing alright?"

"Yes auntie," Susan waved back eagerly as she saw her aunt come to the window and look out of it towards them both.

"What have you been doing?"

"Nothing much," Susan shrugged. "Talking about starting Hogwarts mostly, I showed Harry down to the river and back then around the trees, we've just been talking really."

"Good, it's nearly dinner time, Harry and James will be staying for tea alright?"

"Great!" Susan grinned eagerly, happy that her aunt had someone to talk to now that wasn't going to be all work and Ministry stuff.

"Go on and get washed up then, show Harry where the bathroom is and make sure both of you wash your hands."

"Yes auntie," Susan nodded happily, grabbing onto Harry's hand and pulling him along behind her as she dashed off to the door to come inside and run upstairs to the bathroom.

"Kids," Amelia grinned in amusement, looking back at the older Harry that was watching in amusement. "You never had the pleasure?"

"No," Harry admitted. "I looked after my godson for a bit, he lived with his grandparent after the war, I stayed around as much as I could." He explained thoughtfully, wondering if he'd ever get to see Teddy again this time around.

"Ah, you know the feeling then." Amelia smiled thoughtfully.

"Mixture of worry, horror and wishing they'd never learnt how to talk?" Harry grinned back. "Definitely."

Amelia laughed openly at that, firmly nodding in agreement with Harry's assessment. "Tippy?" She asked aloud, waiting for a brief second before the house elf popped into existence in the living room. "Four for dinner tonight." She said with a nod down towards the little creature.

"Yes Ma'am," Tippy nodded eagerly.

"In the dining room please, as soon as you're ready." Amelia nodded before the house elf vanished again with another pop. "I know she's not as crazy as that Dobby was from your memories, but she's been a godsend with Susan growing up here."

"I can imagine," Harry smiled in agreement. "You sure you're OK with having us both over for dinner? I was just going to cook something for me and... well, me I guess."

"I'll start calling you James in my head as well, it'll be less confusing that way." Amelia commented with a smirk.

"Yeah, probably." Harry admitted with a grimace, inwardly hoping that wherever his dad was in the afterlife, he didn't mind him taking over his name like this.

"Shall we?" Amelia asked, gesturing towards the dining room as she heard the thundering footsteps coming down the stars that indicated both the children had washed their hands and were ready for their meal.

"We shall," Harry grinned up, moving over to follow Amelia through to wherever she was leading him.

"You can cook too then?" Amelia asked, breaking the silence as she led Harry through to the dining hall. "That's unusual to find, most wizards don't bother to learn."

"I do alright," Harry nodded comfortably. "I'm no fancy chef or anything, but I can make most things without turning them into charcoal."

"I'll have to hold you to that and see what you're made of some time." Amelia smiled over as she slowed down a bit to walk alongside Harry into the dining hall.

"That sounds like a challenge?" Harry smirked back.

"Oh definitely," Amelia grinned back as Susan and the younger Harry joined them in the dining hall for their evening meal.


	5. Chapter 5

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

AN: Just to clarify a few things about the previous chapter.

1 - All of Harry's knowledge, memories and rants are from his viewpoint... they might not be the truth or have the whole story about events, so don't take them as 'gospel', Harry is biased and has his faults here... so where some things look like character bashing, they are only Harry's perspective of things, not the whole story.

2 - Dumbledore's power levels... sorry, but this bares out in the books. The Elder Wand is supposed to boost wizards up to perform feats of magic that they wouldn't be able to do on their own... but even with it, Dumbledore couldn't defeat Voldemort and could only equal him at best. Where as Harry managed to equal Voldy's power without it. Going by the evidence in the books, Dumbles is a third rate power relying on the Elder Wand to boost his reputation, with Voldy in second place, and Harry at the top.

3 - The missing twenty years... yes, I'm going to slowly fill in the missing 20 years of Harry's life in dialogue and explanations... but don't expect everything at once in a huge info dump... Harry's had 20 years of life that changed and coloured his views, not everything is rosy and perfect, and neither is Harry.

The 10 / 11 year old Harry here is a VERY different character to the 38 year old Harry, and they will have their differences, arguments and influence each other along the way, both for the better and the worst.

* * *

**25 July, 1991**

**Potter Manor**  
**Honley**  
**West Yorkshire**  
**England**

Harry frowned as he woke up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he tried to gather his bearings together and figure out where he was. The fact that the light was coming through a window on the wrong side of the bedroom had thrown him off entirely for a moment, and it took him a few minutes to get his brain into gear and remember what had happened last night.

Getting back from having dinner with the Bones family, they'd finally had time to sit down and discuss things just between themselves, with his younger self being eager to start exploring the new house and living his life for himself for once.

He couldn't really blame him, he remembered back when he was his age and tasted freedom for the first time when he'd started Hogwarts, it was an exhilarating feeling and one that he couldn't deny his younger self from experiencing.

So he'd shown his younger self around the manor, pointing out the various bathrooms, study areas, library, potions room, and bedrooms around the four floors of the house. Explaining little stories behind each of them as he went through, and smiling to himself as he saw the excited and wondrous expression on his younger self as he learnt about his family for the first time.

Then it had come to the discussion about bedrooms and what to do with them, when his younger self had asked about his dad's bedroom, Harry hadn't been able to deny him. He'd slept in that room for close to twenty years now, so maybe it was time to move on and claim the Manor properly for himself and not simply living here in the shadow of his parents again.

With that decision in mind, he'd given his father's bedroom to his younger self, while he'd decided to claim the main bedroom that would have been his grandparents room for himself.

After the younger Harry had gone to bed, he'd spent the time idly cleaning up the various rooms in the house while planning things and jotting down as many notes about his Hogwarts life as he could remember.

Destroying Voldemort's horcruxes were definitely top of his list, but getting to them was the problem at the moment. There was only one that was really accessible, another he would be able to get to when his younger self started Hogwarts, but the other two were going to be a problem, and that wasn't even including the piece of Voldemort's soul that was lodged in his younger self at the moment.

There were so many problems still to overcome, but he at least had a plan for now and would be able to work on things as time went on.

Clambering out of bed he grabbed his glasses from the bedside table before tugging his jeans on and frowning thoughtfully, he'd been wearing the same clothes and simply cleaning them with charms or transfiguring a few other items ever since he'd arrived back in this time, but eventually he would need other clothes, and his younger self definitely would, as he was still wearing Dudley's old hand-me-downs.

"More shopping," Harry groused to himself as he finished buttoning up his jeans, ruffling his messy hair as he ignored his shirt for now and headed out of the bedroom to wander downstairs in search of coffee.

Wandering down the spiral stairway he took a moment to peek down the first floor corridor to see what his younger self was up to, idly poking his head around the door and shrugging when he saw that he wasn't still in bed or anywhere in the bedroom.

Leaving the location of his younger self aside for the moment he continued on downstairs, ambling through the living room towards the kitchen with a frown, making a mental note to change the living room around back to how he liked it when he got chance.

It didn't take him long to set the stove top kettle to boil and make up a fresh mug of coffee, it was only instant Nescafe, but it was coffee, and for now it was the best he could do.

Enjoying a few sips of the coffee he frowned as he looked at his arm, noticing the way the hairs were standing on end a bit before he focused on feeling the cold air coming through the kitchen.

Following the breeze out he headed towards the front door, spotting his younger self sitting on the doorstep with a glass of water beside him and a book in hand.

"Morning," He grunted aloud, causing his younger self to startle and spin around to look at him. "What you got there?" He asked with idle curiosity as he leaned against the door frame, content to enjoy his morning coffee in the fresh air.

"I borrowed it from the library upstairs, is... is that alright?" The younger Harry asked hopefully as he looked up at his older self.

He was still really coming to terms with that, and as he looked up at his older self, the differences between him and the older him were drastic and rather visible to see.

His older self seemed happy to just walk around in jeans, topless and not caring what anyone thought about him, but then his body was strong, muscled and fully grown, it wasn't skinny enough to show off his ribs or littered with bruises like his body often was.

He actually wondered when he would grow that sort of confidence, one day maybe he would be as comfortable in his body as his older self was, instead of preferring to hide away under baggy clothes and shying away from being touched.

"It's your library as much as mine," Harry shrugged. "Read whatever you want." He explained with a nod. "Actually, there's a few books in there that you probably shouldn't read, but that's only because they're pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing with them." He mused thoughtfully. "As long as you don't try any magic out of the books without checking with me, you can read whatever you want."

"Thanks," The younger Harry beamed up, the happiness at having books of his own showing plainly on his face.

"So, what caught your eye?" Harry asked, nodding down to the book. "Charms," he simplified, reading off the title and recognising the book as one he'd read before. "Good place to start I guess." He nodded with a small smile. "Professor Flitwick is the charms teacher, he was still there when I was an Auror." He explained with a laugh.

"I just thought I'd like to know a bit more," The younger Harry explained. "You're performing all this magic, and Susan was talking about all the things her aunt had shown her... I... I just don't want to be left out."

"You won't be," Harry shook his head quickly. "You're going to do fine at charms, damn good in transfiguration, but defence is where you're going to do your best."

"Defence?" The younger Harry asked, looking up at his older self.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Harry nodded in confirmation.

"Right, Susan told me about that one yesterday." The younger Harry frowned thoughtfully. "I'm going to be good at it?"

"I wouldn't have become an Auror if I was crap at it," Harry smirked back, enjoying a mouthful of coffee. "Disarming charms, protection charms, banishing, bombarda, dissilusionment, patronus. Those are all charms that you're going to learn and become really good at. They're the bread and butter of the Defence course really."

"Oh," The younger Harry nodded, absorbing this for the moment. "So I should keep reading charms first then?"

Harry nodded back, content to enjoy his coffee for the moment. "I'm going to organise with Amelia to put a Fidelius Charm around our houses, this one and hers." He explained with a shrug. "It's a complicated charm, but it'll hide the houses from being discovered by anyone we don't invite here."

"Big magic?" The younger Harry asked innocently.

"Complicated magic," Harry nodded back. "Took me ages to learn that one, it's probably the only charm I know that took me longer than the animagus to learn." He mused with a thoughtful laugh.

"Animagus?" The younger Harry asked, frowning at the strange word. "What's that?"

"It's a ritual that lets you turn into an animal, it takes months and it's a pain in the arse." Harry admitted with a grimace. "There's a potion you have to make for it, and hold a leaf in your mouth for an entire month." He explained at his younger self's interested look. "Dad and Sirius were great at it, they both did it and could change into animals whenever they wanted. Minerva... Professor McGonagall," He corrected himself with a frown, making a mental note not to stay in the habit of calling the professors by their given names in front of his younger self. "She can do it as well, she turns into a house cat."

"Wow!" The younger Harry grinned eagerly. "Can I learn that?"

"When you're a bit bigger," Harry laughed back. "It's pretty complicated, and if you mess it up you could be stuck as an animal forever."

"Oh," The younger Harry frowned, but nodded at that warning. "What am I... what do you change into?"

"A lion," Harry smiled widely at the shocked expression on his younger self's face. "Yeah, it was a surprise to me too." He grinned down. "But it feels right, it's not something you can really explain to anyone else, I guess that's why they don't teach it in school." He mused as he drained the last of his coffee from the mug.

"So... um... Miss Bones?" The younger Harry asked with a small smirk on his face, looking up at his older self. "Is she going to be around a lot?"

"Probably," Harry nodded down. "I didn't plan on letting her in on the secrets or anything, but she'd be a great help to us with everything we've got to do." He admitted thoughtfully.

"Susan said if you two started dating, we'd be brother and sister." The younger Harry explained, making a face at the thought.

"It's way to early for this conversation," Harry groused, rubbing his face with his spare hand. "What do you think about me pretending to be your dad then?"

The younger Harry shrugged at that, looking up at his older self and thinking about it for a moment. "I've never had a dad before."

"Me neither," Harry admitted, mirroring the shrug.

"It... it might be nice though?" The younger Harry asked, looking up at his older self.

"You're sure?" Harry mused thoughtfully. "Wouldn't it be a bit weird, having yourself as your own dad?" He asked, trying to get the thought straight in his head. "OK, I think I actually sprained my brain trying to understand what I just said there."

"Yeah," The younger Harry nodded in agreement, wrinkling his nose at the thought. "So... I just call you dad?"

"I guess that'd be easier than both of us being called Harry," Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"And Miss Bones is going to call you James?" The younger Harry asked.

"That's what we're going to tell everyone," Harry nodded back. "And I really hope dad doesn't mind, though knowing what I know about him, he's probably laughing his arse off somewhere at all of this."

"I hope so," The younger Harry smiled up, liking the thought of his dad actually being happy somewhere.

"Yeah," Harry smiled down, reaching down and ruffling his younger self's hair. "Come on, lets have some breakfast then we can go shopping. I need some clothes, and I know you do too."

"OK," The younger Harry nodded eagerly as he jumped up from where he'd been sitting on the doorstep. "Can I get a coat like yours?" He asked hopefully as he followed his older self through to the kitchen.

"That..." Harry trailed off, glancing into the living room where his dragon-skin trench-coat was thrown over the leather couch. "That was dads, mum bought it for him when he was an Auror, I found it in the family vault when I finished school."

"Oh," The younger Harry whispered, looking into the living room reverently at the coat in question.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, understanding his younger self's expression. "I don't think they do them in your size though, maybe when you're older." He smirked down to his younger self.

"Promise?" The younger Harry asked hopefully.

"Promise," Harry grinned back. "Come on, we should probably buy some food while we're out as well, I'm not exactly known for keeping the kitchen well stocked." He admitted with a grimace, thinking that his usual habit of just bacon or sausage sandwiches in the morning with a mug of coffee, then snacking through the day certainly wasn't going help his younger self grow out of the malnourished body he'd suffered with thanks to the Dursley's.

"More shopping?" The younger Harry asked in a small whine.

"Part of being an adult, unfortunately," Harry grimaced with a nod.

"Being an adult isn't as fun as it looks, is it?" The younger Harry asked as he looked around the kitchen and tried to see what he could do to help.

"Nope," Harry mused back, flicking his wand towards the oven hobs and lighting two of them up with a silent incantation. "Bacon sandwiches OK again?"

"Yes," The younger Harry nodded back happily, running to the cupboard where he knew the bacon was stored.

"Sit down," Harry groused with a laugh, shaking his head at how his younger self was trying to climb on the worktops to get to the cupboard overhead. "I'll cook, you can fill up the kettle with water if you want, just don't burn yourself."

"I won't." The younger Harry promised eagerly, happily grabbing the stove top kettle and carrying it over to the sink to fill it up with water.

Harry nodded over, grabbing the frying pan and readying it to start cooking up some bacon.

"Is... um... is Susan going to be my friend then?" The younger Harry asked curiously as he watched his older self start cooking.

"Yeah, she's a good friend." Harry nodded thoughtfully. "She's pretty quiet though and got on with Hermione more for the first few years, but I think that was only because Ron was so brash and loud that he pushed everyone else away from me back then."

"Ron?" The younger Harry asked, not having heard this name before.

"Ron," Harry grimaced, ruffling his hair in frustration as he tried to word this correctly. "Ron was someone I thought was a friend, and he might have been one really, but he was too much like Dudley to be a real friend."

"Really?" The younger Harry's face screwed up as he tried to imagine being friends with anyone that was like Dudley.

"He's a very jealous person who bullies anyone who can do things better than he can." Harry simplified with a nod. "But... he was the first person that was really friendly to me when I started school, so..." He trailed off with a shrug. "Like I said, I thought he was a friend, but he was only interested in being friends with someone famous until he became famous himself, then he let it go to his head."

"I hate people like that," The younger Harry frowned thoughtfully.

"You always will," Harry nodded back. "Stay away from Ron this time around and you won't have to put up with him trying to control who you talk to and who you can be friends with." He explained with a shrug. "The first time me and Hermione really became friends, it was because she'd run off after Ron made her cry."

"He sounds like a bully," The younger Harry frowned up at his older self.

"It took me a long time to see it like that, but yeah." Harry nodded back. "I haven't been friends with him for a long time now."

"So... so it's better if I'm friends with Susan instead then?" The younger Harry asked, watching as his older self flipped the bacon over with a quick flick of his wand.

"Definitely," Harry smiled back. "Susan, Neville, Hannah and Hermione. Those are the people that'll stick by you the most."

"Hannah?" The younger Harry asked curiously.

"One of Susan's friends, she becomes Neville's girlfriend later on." Harry explained with a shrug. "She's pretty cool, but gets pulled into things too easily."

"Alright," The younger Harry shrugged at that piece of information. "Susan was telling me more about the houses at the school as well."

"Oh?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrow at that.

"You said we... I'll be in Gryffindor?" The younger Harry asked.

"Yup," Harry nodded back. "Susan's in Hufflepuff, Neville and Hermione will be in Gryffindor with you." He explained with a shrug as he moved to get the bread out of the cupboard.

"What are the other houses?" The younger Harry asked curiously.

"Ravenclaw," Harry mused aloud. "Luna gets sorted there next year, they're supposed to be the smart house, but it's full of bullies really."

"Oh," The younger Harry frowned at that. "Susan said that Slytherin was where the bullies were."

"She's right," Harry nodded back, bringing over the two plates of bacon sandwiches and putting them on the table before returning to the stove to finish making his coffee. "Slytherin... there's a lot to talk about with what's going on in Slytherin, but there's two names I want you to remember. Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape."

"Who are they?" The younger Harry asked, refilling his own glass of water before sitting down at the table and gingerly sliding over one of the bacon sandwiches.

"Draco Malfoy... he's a bully. He thinks he's better than everyone else just because he's a pure blood wizard, he'll be a problem all the way through school and for quite a while after." Harry explained bluntly.

The younger Harry frowned thoughtfully at that as he took a bite of his bacon sandwich and took note of what his older self was saying.

"Severus Snape, he's the leader of the Slytherins really, like Professor McGonagall is for the Gryffindors." Harry explained after swallowing a mouthful of his coffee. "He's a spy, he's working for Dumbledore to spy on the evil wizards around, but he's a pretty nasty piece of work anyway and doesn't see anything wrong with hurting people or letting them get hurt even if he can stop it. He taught potions for me, but I'm going to make sure he's not there to cause the same problems for you."

"Potions," The younger Harry nodded, swallowing his bacon sandwich quickly. "Susan told me about that, she said everyone's afraid of the potions professor and that he hates everyone."

"She's right," Harry nodded back. "He's one of the worst bullies at the school, but Dumbledore keeps him around just to be his spy. Since I'll be getting rid of both of them, you shouldn't have any problems with either of them."

"Oh," The younger Harry nodded at that, trying to think about what his older self was planning. "You're... you're not going to kill them are you?"

"Probably not," Harry frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not going to lie to you though, some people are going to die, there's a war coming if I can't stop Voldemort again, and it'll get worse before it gets better."

"I... I don't know if I could kill anyone." The younger Harry whispered.

"You won't have to," Harry promised over. "I... when I was in school, I killed someone when I was only a year older than you are." He admitted with a sad sigh. "He was possessed by Voldemort, but it took me a while to come to terms with what happened."

"Did you mean to do it?" The younger Harry asked.

"It was a fight, he was trying to kill me so..." Harry trailed off with a small shrug. "Yes, I meant to do it, but I didn't understand what it meant back then."

"Will I have to do that?" The younger Harry asked with wide eyes.

"No," Harry shook his head firmly. "I'll deal with that, you focus on school and making friends, I'll deal with all the troubles so you don't have to."

"But I can help, really." The younger Harry said firmly, clearly wanting to be as helpful as he could be.

"I know you can," Harry laughed over the table. "I wouldn't have made it through school if I wasn't capable of doing all that." He explained, pointing towards his younger self with his sandwich. "The point is, I never had someone looking out for me who could do all of this, but you have me." He explained with a shrug.

"Oh," The younger Harry frowned, thinking about this for a moment. "Is that what a dad is supposed to do then?"

"I guess," Harry mused with a nod. "Yeah, I think so."

"So you'd really be my dad then, not just a pretend dad?" The younger Harry asked.

"If thats what that means, then... yeah, I'd be your dad, I think." Harry frowned thoughtfully, ruffling his hair as he tried to figure that out in his head.

"I'd like that," The younger Harry simply shrugged, grinning over the table at his older self.

"I never had a dad, I've never been a dad." Harry muttered, scratching his stubble and wondering how on earth he'd gotten himself into this situation.

"You're my dad now." The younger Harry said simply, happily enjoying his breakfast and completely oblivious to the extremely confused look his older self was giving him.

"To be a kid again," Harry whispered to himself, bemused at how innocent and naive his younger self was.

He hadn't been that innocent in a long time, it was something that his Hogwarts years and the war that followed had stolen from him, so it was really strange being faced with it again and realising how much things had changed over the years.

The younger Harry hadn't faced Voldemort, hadn't been betrayed by his friends time after time, and hadn't come to the realisation that the country as a whole didn't deserve to be saved anymore. He was still innocent and optimistic about the future in a way he hadn't been in over twenty years.

It was refreshing in some ways, but disheartening in others. Knowing that that innocence he saw in his younger self wouldn't last, and it would be stolen away by bigotry and corruption and bullying.

He happily just sat in silence as he enjoyed his bacon sandwich and coffee, watching as his younger self nibbled his way through his own bacon sandwich while reading the charms book he'd taken from the library.

Was it worth trying to save that innocence that was still there? Or would a more innocent Harry just get hurt more over the years when the truth finally came and slapped him around the face? Was it worth even trying? Or should he simply help his younger self see the darker side of the world earlier on so he could be ready to face it head on?

Or could he actually do this and change things for the better this time around?

He wasn't sure if he actually could, but he was sure as hell going to give it a damn good try.

* * *

"Amelia?" Harry called out, knocking on the front door of the Bones Manor, it was already hanging half open, indicating that Amelia or Susan were either around the house or the grounds outside somewhere.

Shopping had been surprisingly easy thankfully, after changing up a load of galleons into muggle money, he'd managed to get a load of clothes for both him and his younger self, and managed to keep himself from laughing when his younger self seemed intent on copying his own carefree and hard wearing style instead of choosing clothes that were his own style.

"Through here James, come on through."

Harry smiled as he heard the call, pushing the front door open more and stepping through with his younger self in tow. It was still weird getting used to hearing Amelia calling him James, but at least he'd gotten used to his younger self calling him 'dad' all day, even with the little smirk he gave him every time.

"Busy day?" Amelia asked, looking up from the couch to see the various bags of clothes he was carrying.

"Shopping," Harry groused as he dropped the bags on the floor. "We've got a few hours left, so I was going to head to Diagon and pick up the rest of his school books and bits."

"Ah," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "I was planning on going myself, but have got caught up in paperwork instead." She admitted with a grimace at the piles of parchment around her.

"I remember that, don't miss it." Harry admitted with a grin.

"Well, I did manage to bring out some things for you." Amelia nodded, fishing around for a moment before grabbing the piece of parchment she'd been looking for and holding it out for him. "Fill that in and I'll file it tomorrow."

Harry raised an eyebrow as he took the piece of parchment, recognising it instantly as an animagus registration form, what was amusing was that most of it had already been filled out for James Potter. "You want me to register?" He asked with a smirk.

"The Ministry relies on paperwork," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "If I file this away and make it look like it's been overlooked, then when it's found it'll be used as more proof that you are who you say you are." She explained. "It will also make you legal, which will keep you on the good side of the Aurors." She explained, nodding to the other parchments she was holding out that were clearly marked as Auror Employment forms. "I took the liberty of pulling up James' old records, there's nothing here that could be used against you, some of it is actually rather helpful."

"Oh?" Harry mused thoughtfully, taking the employment records with a curious expression on his face. "

"James was a rather gifted Auror before he went into hiding at Albus' prompting, Alastor Moody was his senior auror, all the dates and training certificates are in there, it's just a copy, all the real documents are still at The Ministry."

"Useful," Harry nodded, flicking through the various documents and making a mental note to read them more thoroughly when he got chance. "I made sure the unplottable charms and wards around the manor were secure last night, I'm ready to do the Fidelius whenever you are."

"It still surprises me that you are powerful enough to perform a Fidelius, there aren't many wizards who have the will necessary to cast that charm." Amelia mused aloud. "You'll place it over this manor too?"

"That's the plan," Harry nodded back. "Voldemort targeted this place when he came back to power last time, I'm just taking away that opportunity before he gets chance."

"And our secret keepers?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Each other." Harry shrugged. "Well, you and him." He mused, nodding to the younger Harry. "I can't cast the Fidelius and be the secret keeper at the same time, so he'll have to do it."

"Rather a shame I lack the power to cast it myself," Amelia frowned but nodded in agreement. "Are you alright with that?" She asked, looking to the younger Harry.

"Um, yes?" The younger Harry nodded quickly. "I mean, um... I read all the stuff about it that dad told me about, it all sounds pretty complicated, but I just need to know the secret and not tell anyone about it right?"

"Exactly," Amelia nodded with a smile. "It's a lot of responsibility though."

"I know," The younger Harry nodded. "But if you're responsible for keeping us safe, then we can do the same for you right?" He asked with a small smile. "And it'll keep Susan safe too as well."

"It will," Amelia nodded back.

"Once we've got the Fidelius up, I'm going to start teaching Harry some charms and hexes to keep him safe." Harry announced.

"You've got him casting magic already?" Amelia frowned over. "You do know that's against the law?"

"The law's a sack of shit on that one, you know it, I know it." James said firmly. "There's barely a pure blood family out there that doesn't have their kids casting as soon as they start showing off accidental magic. The law is only there to stop muggle-born's from having the same advantage just so pure blood families can get one over on them and be better at it when they start Hogwarts. It's a crock, and I'll tell anyone the same thing." He explained bluntly. "Same as the trace, it only affects muggle-borns, they can't trace pure blood kids because they're already living somewhere where there's magic being thrown around constantly. It's all biased against muggle-borns, just like every other law on the books."

Amelia mused over that with a frown. "I can't deny it, but it's still the law. But... but, given what you're telling me about the future..." She frowned thoughtfully, rubbing her temples and lifting the monocle out of her eye. "Would you be willing to teach Susan as well?"

"As long as she wants to," Harry shrugged. "I already caught the mini-me working his way through a charms book this morning before breakfast." He explained with a smirk down at his younger self. "So I figure teaching him some of the basics before he starts will be a good way to get ahead of the curve."

"A good plan," Amelia nodded back. "You seem to be dealing rather well with the knowledge that your older self has come back in time?" She asked, looking down to the younger Harry. "It's not every day something like this happens, not even in our world."

"I didn't even know I was a wizard until he told me, or about magic or any of this." The younger Harry explained with a small shrug. "But it answers a whole load of questions I had, and it's kinda cool to know how things are going to go."

"Only how things went for him, we're going to change how things go from here on." Amelia corrected him. "I think I will join you for some shopping however, Susan still needs some of her books and we haven't looked for a familiar yet for her." She mused thoughtfully. "She's out in the back garden, would you mind?" She asked, smiling towards the younger Harry.

"Alright," The younger Harry shrugged before heading off back out the door to find Susan.

Once the younger Harry had left, Amelia turned her attention to Harry properly. "I've also started an investigation into the long term prisoners in Azkaban. It's ruffled a few feathers, but I leaked information about it to the Prophet already to drum up some support."

"Oh?" Harry asked, folding up the parchments Amelia had given to him and stuffing them into one of his shopping bags. "All of the prisoners of Azkaban?"

"It seemed more subtle than simply focusing on Sirius Black and drawing direct attention to what we were doing." Amelia clarified. "Also, if there are more innocent people in Azkaban, I want to know about it." She explained firmly. "I've had two junior Aurors start digging through trial transcripts already and comparing them to the names listed for Azkaban, I should have the information in a few days."

"As long as Fudge doesn't block you from pushing on with it," Harry frowned thoughtfully.

"Quite," Amelia nodded back. "It may take a couple of weeks, but I'm certain I can get Sirius in front of a Wizengamot hearing before things come to a head at Hogwarts."

"Getting Dumbledore out of Hogwarts is the first step," Harry frowned, scratching his head as he tried to plan things out. "If it's public enough that he hired Voldemort to teach at the school, that'll be enough to call a vote for his seat as the Chief Warlock as well."

"Perhaps bringing some reporters to Hogwarts with you then to witness the confrontation?" Amelia asked dubiously. "You're certain you can deal with... with Voldemort during the sorting ceremony?"

"Easily," Harry nodded back with certainty. "He's a ghost, a wraith possessing Quirrell, once I touch him, he'll start falling apart and be pushed out of the body. He'll run and hide when he realises he can't do anything in response."

"As long as the students are safe," Amelia frowned back.

"They'll be safer without him, Dumbledore or Snape hanging around." Harry explained with a shrug. "Once I confront Voldemort, Dumbledore will try and bluster his way out of it."

"That's where we'll need the media on our side." Amelia said with a smile. "If we get the reporters to witness Voldemort's return, then it'll force Fudge into accepting it and starting preparations early, and we can use the same momentum to force Albus out of the school."

"Maybe," Harry mused aloud, ruffling his hair as he thought about it. "I know just the person, she'll be able to watch the entire thing, and her poison quill will be working for us without her even knowing about it."

"Oh?" Amelia asked, raising a lone silver eyebrow in response.

"Rita Skeeter," Harry answered with a knowing smirk, causing Amelia to frown back at him. "Trust me, she's who we'll need to write the worst account of what's going on at that school. A few articles from her, and the entire country will be calling for Dumbledore's head."

"I can't deny you're right, but the idea of working with that... woman, is repugnant." Amelia frowned at the thought.

"Yeah, but I know all her secrets anyway, so if she steps off her leash..." Harry smirked with a shrug. "I have no problem crushing her like a bug this time around, I won't even loose any sleep over it."

Amelia simply nodded at that, watching as Susan and the younger Harry came in from outside before they all started to get ready for a trip back to Diagon Alley.


	6. Chapter 6

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

AN: From this chapter on, I will be referring to the adult Harry as James, this is to limit confusion and repeated distinctions between the two Harry's.

* * *

**31 July, 1991**

**Potter Manor**  
**Honley**  
**West Yorkshire**  
**England**

"James?"

"Come on through," James yelled from the kitchen, recognising Amelia's voice coming from the fireplace. "What's going on?" He asked, smiling as Amelia and Susan came through to the kitchen from the living room where the main fireplace was.

"Some things you should know about, and I thought it would be a nice surprise to bring Harry's birthday presents over in person." Amelia explained with a nod.

"He's out on his broom again," James explained with a knowing grin. "There's some spares by the front door, nothing fancy though, but it'll get you in the air if you want." He explained with a nod to Susan. "Just stay away from the silver birch one, that's my... it's a custom one of mine, it's more powerful than a Nimbus, so it's not really a good idea for anyone else to try it." He explained, quickly thinking up a story to explain away his birch Lightning Bolt broom from the future.

"Thanks James." Susan grinned happily, dashing to the door to grab one of the spare brooms before running outside to catch up with her friend.

"Where do they get all that energy from?" James groused, shaking his head in amusement.

"They steal it from us," Amelia answered with mock seriousness.

"Ah, that explains it." James grinned back. "So, what's going on?"

"Albus was prowling around The Ministry again today," Amelia explained. "I think Harry's disappearance has been noticed."

"Wouldn't surprise me," James shrugged with a disinterested look. "He had... Figg, something Figg, a squib anyway, spying on me from down the street." He explained with a shrug. "A few days or a week, she wouldn't have noticed, but I figured she'd have noticed something sooner or later."

"I had assumed he would have had someone watching," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "You've replied to Harry's Hogwarts letter?"

"Yeah, all done and dusted." James nodded back as he started boiling some water. "Coffee?" He asked.

"Love one," Amelia nodded, moving around to put the presents she brought for Harry on the kitchen table. "Albus was trying to drum up some of his old supporters, I caught him chatting to Kingsley yesterday in the department corridors."

"Not a big surprise there, Shacklebolt was one of his Order of the Burnt Turkey as well, he was happy to take orders from Dumbledore last time even when it meant doing things against the Aurors." James explained bluntly. "Shacklebolt, Tonks, Mad-Eye, those were the three Aurors I remember."

"I don't believe I know this Tonks?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow as James finished making the coffee. "Alastor retired several years ago though, he's not suitable to return to the corps after so many years. The paranoia really got to him I'm afraid."

"Think she's still at Hogwarts actually, either that or she finished last year, or this year." James mused aloud. "Metamorphmagus, punk look, clumsier than a hippogriff on ice." He explained with a laugh. "She's pretty fun, but she was in Dumbledore's pocket through and through last time. Even stuck with his orders to keep me locked up at the Dursley's after Sirius died and stopped me from going to his will reading."

"Hmmm," Amelia nodded, making a mental node to keep an eye out for that particular Auror recruit. "I still can't believe you bought Harry a Nimbus two thousand." She muttered with a disapproving frown.

"He can handle it, I did." James explained with a shrug as he finished the coffee off and brought it over to the table. "Minerva got it for me when I made the Quidditch team first year remember? This way Harry's not indebted to anyone in the school when he makes the team, and I can simply have it sent up to him."

"Have you had any more thoughts about my suggestion?" Amelia asked, accepting the mug of black coffee with a nod of thanks.

"Teaching?" James frowned, scratching his head idly. "A bit, I'm not sure it's the best idea though." He admitted.

"Oh?" Amelia asked, raising her eyebrow as she enjoyed a sip of the coffee.

"Suck at Hogwarts I can't deal with the Horcruxes or be around to counter anything Voldemort does," He explained as he drummed his fingers on the table.

"But you'd be at the school to keep the children safe," Amelia countered.

"True, but that's no good if Voldemort takes control of The Ministry like he did last time." James explained. "It all depends on if Fudge pulls his head out of his arse when I bring Voldemort out for everyone to see."

"He's already been talking about the first day at Hogwarts," Amelia interrupted with a smirk. "A few comments here and there, and he's convinced that being there to witness Harry's sorting was his best idea ever, he's even invited with Wizarding Wireless to cover it as well so he can be seen applauding and congratulating him on his return to the magical world." She explained with a snort of amusement.

"Anything for publicity," James rolled his eyes in amusement, remembering how bad Fudge had been. "So I'll have an audience for Voldemort's grand unveiling then?" He asked with a smirk towards Amelia.

"Certainly," Amelia chuckled in response. "Cornelius, Albus, the Wizarding Wireless, the Daily Prophet if that reporter of yours shows up."

"She will," James nodded knowingly, Rita would be drooling over an exclusive like seeing Harry Potter's sorting.

"Then everyone around the country will know Voldemort is back by the next morning. Even Cornelius wouldn't be able to spin that around." Amelia smiled contentedly at how the plan was coming together.

"He'll probably try though, or just bury his head in the sand and cry until it goes away." James muttered with a shake of his head. "If he keeps that up again, we'll have to force a vote to get him out of power."

"By that point, you'll have been outed as James Potter to the world already." Amelia pointed out with a knowing smile.

"I'm not taking the job," James said firmly, holding up his hand to stop that idea in it's tracks. "No way, you can take it."

"I'll never get the votes," Amelia shook her head. "Too many of the old families have grudges to grind against me."

"That's their problem," James groused, shaking his head at the stupidity of politics. "Once Voldemort's outed, the dark families will flock back to him anyway, so it'll only be a matter of time before they're all unmasked."

"You remember them all clearly?" Amelia asked.

"Malfoy, Nott, Lestrange, Crouch, Yaxly, Dolohov, Rowle, the Carrows" James rattled off. "I'd have to pull up the pensieve again to remember all of them though."

"I've already got a trusted Auror watching Barty Crouch, you're certain he's got Junior under the Imperious at his house?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Thats what he told me," James nodded, doing his best to drag up every memory he had of Barty Crouch Jr.

Amelia nodded at that. "I'll stage a raid during the week, it shouldn't be too hard to uncover what's going on there, and then get both of the Crouch's in front of the Wizengamot."

"Like that'll help," James snorted derisively, knowing full well that the Wizengamot was stocked with enough Death Eaters or sympathisers to make any trial little less than a sham.

"It'll help Sirius," Amelia said bluntly. "If I can get him under veritaserum, I can ask how many people he threw into Azkaban without trials, it might clear Sirius Black's name without having to stage his escape first."

"Hnh," James frowned, thinking about that for a second. "Alright, that might work." He admitted thoughtfully. "Keep the Daily Prophet around the trial though, that way it becomes public knowledge pretty much instantly and nobody can cover it up again."

"You don't have any faith in our government at all, do you?" Amelia asked, a little depressed at how disillusioned James was with how their world was.

"After everything I've been through?" James snorted, shaking his head. "You saw all the memories I've got, would you trust The Ministry after all of that?"

"But you still worked for them?" Amelia prompted him. She had to admit, he had a point. After seeing the memories of Harry's fifth, sixth and the rest of the war, she could definitely understand where his apathy and disgust towards The Ministry came from.

"It's a job," James shrugged with a disinterested look. "I'm not saying it's the worst job or anything, but it's... it's what I was expected to do, and once I got into it I just sort of carried on with it."

"It's not what you actually want to do then?" Amelia asked, curious what sort of life Harry would chose if he had the freedom to do what he wanted. "What would you do if you had the choice then?"

"I..." James paused, frowning at the thought and ruffling his messy hair. "I don't know." He admitted after a moment's pause. "I've been living up to everyone's expectations for so long, that I don't even know what I want to do anymore."

"Maybe you should start," Amelia smiled over. "Nobody here has any expectations of you."

James snorted at that, shaking his head. "Tell me that once everyone starts thinking I'm my dad." He muttered in amusement. "I'll be expected to start back in the Aurors before the first copy of the Prophet has even been printed."

"You don't HAVE to do what people expect you know, I certainly didn't." Amelia explained, enjoying a mouthful of her coffee while he looked at her in confusion. "The last grown witch of the Bones line? Even taking care of Susan, everyone wanted me to marry into a good line and continue the Bones family."

"Does that matter to you?" James asked, leaning against the kitchen worktop as he thought about what Amelia was saying.

"Not in the way you think," Amelia shook her head. "Most pure blood witches don't go into work like I did, and certainly not through the DMLE. It also occurred to me that if I marry someone, then it would fall to Susan to continue the Bones family once I was married."

"Ah," James nodded, understanding that at least.

"Quite," Amelia nodded in confirmation. "So I decided to ignore the expectations people had of me, and focus on living my life by what I wanted, not living the life other people wanted for me." She explained, pausing to enjoy a mouthful of coffee. "I'm not saying marriage is off the cards, but finding a wizard willing to put up with my work, with coming second to Susan, and willing to let me keep my name so Susan can be free to marry who she wants when the time comes?"

"I see your point," James mused aloud.

"And you, any thoughts on continuing the Potter name?" Amelia asked with a small smile over towards him.

"None," James admitted bluntly. "I'm not even thinking about anything like that until Voldemort's dealt with, once that mess is all over again I'll be able to breath easier."

"A sensible plan," Amelie said thoughtfully. "I did have something for you though, despite your regular rants about not celebrating your birthday." She explained with a small smile, lifting up a small package in silver wrapping paper and gently tossing it over to him.

"Amelia..." James groused, catching the wrapped present easily and eyeing it dubiously. He hadn't really celebrated his birthday in years now, and was more than happy to continue on the tradition. It was just another day for him. The only person that ever really cared for the last few years was Hermione, and she always sent either a card and a little present, but nobody else really bothered with it, and it was just the way he liked it.

"Go on, you'll like this." Amelia promised, putting her mug of coffee down on the table as she moved over to join him by the worktop, watching as he slowly unwrapped the present to reveal a box underneath that he gingerly opened. "I dug it out of the old records, nobody goes down there, so it won't be missed." She explained when she saw him looking at the present in shock.

"This... is this..." James whispered, running his hand over the silver and gold badge that was shaped like a pentagram around a shield, with a pair of stylised crossed wands across the front. The name 'J Potter' was engraved underneath, leaving no guesses needed as to who the owner had been. "My dad's shield." He said softly.

"I thought it'd be better with you than in a dusty box down in The Ministry's basement," Amelia smiled, nudging him with her shoulder gently. "Happy Birthday Harry." She whispered before quickly leaning in and kissing him on his cheek.

* * *

**6th August**

"We got him!"

James quite literally fell off the sofa in shock at the loud shout that came through the living room, startling him from where he'd been happily sprawled out on the couch and reading a random transfiguration book that he'd picked up from the upstairs library.

"Evening Amelia," He muttered dryly, staying on the floor and glaring up at where he could now see Amelia had stepped through the fireplace. "It's alright Harry, it's just Amelia." He snorted, nodding towards where his younger self had run down the stairs to find out what the yelling was all about.

"Barty! We got him!" Amelia confirmed, striding over and pulling James up off the floor with a yank on his arms. "Sentenced to life in Azkaban, Junior got thrown to the dementors." She said with a nod.

"Well, that's a turn up," James mused thoughtfully, tossing his book down on the couch for now as he tried to figure out what this meant. "Life in Azkaban?" He asked, looking to Amelia for confirmation.

"I got him under veritaserum for over an hour in front of the entire Wizengamot, he admitted to keeping his son under the Imperious, casting it pretty much ever week for years, just to keep him under control." Amelia explained. "Sneaking him out of Azkaban, bribing the guards to leave him alone so he could switch his dying wife into the cell, the whole story."

"Damn, yeah, that'd do it." James grunted, ruffling his hair thoughtfully. "What else?" He asked, spotting the excited smirk on Amelia's face.

"I got to ask how many people he'd tossed in Azkaban without trials." She confirmed before setting her jaw, the earlier smile gone like dust in the wind as she moved into her full business mode.

"How many?" James asked, already dreading the number.

"Forty two," Amelia grimaced as she announced the number.

"Fuck!"

"James!" Amelia berated him, slapping him around the shoulder when she saw the younger Harry staring at his adult self in shock.

"Sorry," James frowned, looking down to his younger self. "Adults swear, don't do it at school, you'll loose house points for it."

"But if I don't get caught?" Harry asked with a cheeky grin.

"There you go," James smirked down with a snort of laughter.

"Don't encourage him, yourself, whatever." Amelia frowned, slapping James' shoulder again. "You're a terrible influence on yourself, you know that?" She muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.

"Alright alright," James grumbled, rubbing his shoulder where Amelia kept hitting him. "Did you get names?"

"All of them, Sirius wasn't even the first he tossed away, he'd been doing it for years and covering it all up." Amelia explained. "The Wizengamot was in uproar, Barty will be staying in Azkaban even if he could escape, it's about the only place that's safe for him. At least a dozen members of the Wizengamot had family members that had been denied a trial, they were screaming about calling Barty out for an honour dual right in the chambers."

"Fudge?" James asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Blustering around as usual, blaming everything on Barty and the previous administration, but he took a big hit with it and everyone's pushing for all the people thrown in Azkaban to get a full trial, if not released outright." Amelia explained. "I've got Aurors chasing down Bagnold now to find out what she knew about it all, but nobody's seen her in months."

"That won't work," James frowned thoughtfully. Dropping back onto the couch and lazing back as he started tapping his knuckles on his knee. "Sirius will need a trial to clear his name, even if he's released, nobody will believe he's innocent unless he gets a trial." He explained. "Dumbledore?"

"Albus was giving Barty his usual disappointed glare throughout the entire thing, he did look actually surprised when Sirius' name was read out though." Amelia admitted.

"Not surprised," James mused aloud. "He's an arse..." He trailed off when he saw the glare Amelia was giving him then shrugged before continuing. "But I don't think he'd be in on keeping innocent people in Azkaban, he's too big on giving people more chances than they deserve to do anything like that."

"For what it's worth, I agree with you." Amelia nodded, moving over to join him on the couch, her traditional Wizengamot purple robes clashing drastically with his casual blue muggle jeans and green t-shirt.

"Does that mean Sirius is going to be free?" Harry asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Hopefully kiddo," Amelia nodded over. "We'll have to get him a trial first, but once I get him in front of the Wizengamot and get him to take some veritaserum, it's only a matter of time."

"That's great!" Harry grinned excitedly, having been told stories about Sirius by his older self. "Will he be coming to live here too?"

"We'll see," James nodded over. "How's your studying coming?" He asked, idly curious how his younger self had been doing.

"Great!" Harry beamed over. "I'm working on the charms book today."

"Again?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn't remember being this excited about charms when he was Harry's age. "Go on then, keep at it and you'll be Flitwick's best student this year."

Harry nodded eagerly at that, dashing back off up the stairs to return to his books.

"Charms?" Amelia asked, looking to James for clarification.

"Don't look at me, that's all him." James explained with a shrug. "I honestly can't remember ever being that excited about charms, but he's diving right into it."

"There's differences already between the two of you?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement at this little fact.

"Hnh," James snorted, nodding slowly as he thought about it. "At this point I was locked in my bedroom with my relatives pretending I didn't exist." He mused thoughtfully. "I remembering reading through A History of Magic and flicking through the others, not devouring books like he's been doing."

"Where as Harry has an entire library open to him for the first time, without anyone judging him or yelling at him for touching the books." Amelia pointed out. "It was obvious there were going to be changes between the two of you as you changed things from your personal history, I'm just surprised something like this has shown up so early."

"I guess," James frowned thoughtfully. He'd done his best to keep as many things for Harry as similarly as he could. He'd found Hedwig again and bought her for him, he had the same books, new robes, the same Nimbus broom.

"You're treating him like a son as well, and he's looking to you to be the father neither of you had." Amelia explained thoughtfully. "That's going to change things, even little things like how Harry sees different people in authority and compares them to you."

"This is a lot more complicated than I'd thought," James grimaced, ruffling his hair in annoyance. "Alright, so what are we going to do about Sirius?"

"Once he's freed?" Amelia asked. "He'll be remanded to St Mungo's for treatment, being in Azkaban for a decade won't have been kind to him, I saw in your memories he was practically feral when he escaped in your time."

"Yeah," James admitted with a nod. "He got better, slowly, but Dumbledore didn't help by keeping him locked up like he was a prisoner in the home he hated."

Amelia frowned at that, but as both of them knew how each other felt about Albus bloody Dumbledore, neither of them needed to say anything more. "Did you collect the horcrux?"

"The ring?" James nodded. "Destroyed it already." He explained with a shrug. "Took it down to the forest when Harry was asleep, a quick burst of fiendfyre and it was toast." He paused, frowning again when he realised what he'd said. "You know, it's almost anti-climactic doing it this way. We spent over a year hunting them down last time, and I just destroyed one because Harry had gone to bed early and I was bored." He explained with a shrug, happy that he at least had managed to secure the other Resurrection Stone from the scorched remains and had locked it away upstairs for now.

"You poor thing," Amelia muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him. "And you know where the others are?"

"As soon as Sirius gets us into Grimmauld, I can torch the next one." James nodded firmly. "I'll get the tiara once I've dusted Voldemort, and that just leaves the cup." He explained, still mentally trying to figure out a way how to deal with the horcrux that was currently lodged in his younger self's head.

"Excellent," Amelia smiled happily at that. "There is someone I'd like you to meet though, she's been a good friend of mine since Hogwarts, and I think she'd be someone that could help us."

"OK, I'll bite?" James asked, raising an eyebrow towards Amelia.

"Julia Greengrass." Amelia explained. "She's on the Hogwarts Governors board as well as the St Mungo's Governors, the Greengrasses have had family seats there and on the Wizengamot for generations."

"Greengrass," James mused aloud thoughtfully. "Greengrass, Greengrass," He muttered to himself. "I know that name from somewhere." He frowned to himself.

"Daphne Greengrass, her oldest daughter? She'll be starting Hogwarts this year?" Amelia prompted him.

"Daphne?" James asked, rolling the name around in his head. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"Astoria?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Astoria, now that does." James nodded, clicking his fingers and turning to Amelia.

"Her youngest," Amelia explained. "Three years younger than Daphne. Cyrus was a good man."

"Astoria..." James continued to mutter to himself as he racked his memory. "Astoria Malfoy!" He clicked his fingers as he remembered the name. "She married Draco Malfoy." He grinned, happy he'd worked through that little memory block.

"Oh that poor thing," Amelia muttered dryly, not wanting to wish that future on anyone.

"You said Cyrus WAS a good man?" James asked, emphasising the past tense.

"Indeed, he died, an honour duel seven years ago." Amelia nodded. "Corban Yaxley cut him down with a collection of dark curses that should have seen him in Azkaban, but because it was an officiated duel, there wasn't anything I could do for her."

"Yaxley I know," James muttered darkly, remembering well the dark bastard that took over the DMLE under Voldemort's reign of terror. "Alright, why'd you want me to meet with her? And what should we tell her?"

"She's a good person, she's kept her family together even with threats from the darker families trying to take control of the Greengrass fortune." Amelia explained. "She's got the ear of the Hogwarts governors and will be able to neutralise Lucius Malfoy's influence."

"Well, you've sold me there." James admitted with a nod. "Anyone that can help kick Dumbledore out or kick Malfoy in the nuts is a good person in my book." He explained with a grin. "Set it up and I'll meet her."

"Good," Amelia smiled thankfully at him. "I think however, we should keep the appearance of you being James Potter to her, if only for the fact that she does deal with the Hogwarts staff from time to time, and I'm unsure how her occlumency would hold up to Albus or Severus."

"Hnh," James grunted but nodded along. "The fewer people in the know, the better as far as I'm concerned." He admitted. "I've already got the mini-me asking why he can't tell Susan about me."

"And his occlumency?" Amelia asked with an amused glance.

"About as strong as a wet paper bag," James groused. "I can't talk though, I didn't learn until sixth year, and that was with Snape raping my mind every week until I figured out how to block him out."

"Keep at it," Amelia smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll get it, you have to be a much better teacher than Severus was."

"Not hard, Hedwig would be a better teacher than Snape was." James snorted in amusement. "I'll meet your friend, when do you want to do it?"

"I'll set up dinner this week some time, is Harry alright on his own for one evening?" Amelia asked dubiously.

"Sure," James nodded. "Seriously, I was on my own at that age more often than not, he'll keep his nose stuck in that charms book anyway, I've lost count of the amount of times I've had to run drying charms over his room because he was practising aguamenti inside." He complained with a good natured grin.

"Aguamenti? That's a sixth year charm?" Amelia asked, the shock visible on her face.

"It's not that hard, I used to use it a lot with a glacius charm to secure chunks of ice around idiots that were running from me or trip them up with ice under foot." James explained with a shrug. "I knew I found it easy, so figured Harry would have an easy go with it too."

"You're going to drive Fillius absolutely crazy, you know that?" Amelia asked, smirking at him. "I assume you've taught him glacius as well?"

"Of course," James grinned back at her. "He was showing that one off to Susan earlier in the week when he fetched their drinks after the lesson." He explained with a snort of laughter.

"How did Susan do?" She asked, honestly curious as to how her little niece was handling things.

"Actually pretty good, she's handy enough with the disarming spell already, that's the first one I taught them both, she's got pretty good reflexes so it'll be a good way to keep her safe." James explained. "Was weird teaching it to her again though, I remember teaching Susan when she was part of the DA back in fifth year, I don't remember her getting it this fast last time though."

"There were more students from what I remember of your memories?" Amelia mused aloud. "Perhaps one to one teaching with just her and Harry allowed her to pick it up a bit quicker this time."

"Maybe," James nodded thoughtfully. "Not a big deal, I'm just happy they'll both be able to hold their own against any of the idiots in the school."

"You won't rethink your decision to take over the Defence class once Quirrell is gone?" Amelia asked.

"Definitely not," James shook his head. "Between dealing with the Horcruxes, the Death Eaters worming out of the woodwork after we reveal Voldemort, dealing with Fudge and having Sirius around again?" He trailed off with a snort of laughter. "Not only no, but hell no." He explained with a laugh.

"I see your point," Amelia chuckled to herself. "I can't say I ever spent much time with Sirius before his... well, imprisonment."

"Honestly, neither did I." James admitted with a frown. "I've got maybe a summer's worth of memories with him, and a splattering of letters. Dumbledore kept us from spending too much time together, and with him being on the run and recovering from Azkaban..." He trailed off, rubbing his face in frustration. "I don't know how much of what I knew of Sirius was really him, or what was his more crazy side that came out because of his stint in Azkaban."

"Once he's been treated, I'll make sure you both get some time to talk, Harry as well." Amelia nodded with a small smile.

"Oh that'll be fun," Harry smirked. "He's already half-way towards crazy thanks to Azkaban, and I walk in looking just like his dead best friend? That'll go down great I'm sure." He exclaimed with a snort of amusement at the idea, mentally picturing Sirius fainting like a little girl at the sight.

"Ah, I hadn't thought of that." Amelia admitted with a grimace at how badly that could actually go. "Perhaps it would be better if myself and Harry break things to him in a more gentle manner?"

"You think?" James muttered, shaking his head at the thought. "I'll figure out how to break things to Sirius once he's stable, no point in piling more on when he's still recovering from Azkaban."

"Alright," Amelia nodded in agreement with that. "Until the trials are over with then, there's little else to do until Harry and Susan start Hogwarts."

"Hnh," James grunted in agreement, more than happy to just laze on the couch and relax until things heated up again. "Speaking off, where is little red today anyway?"

"Sleepover with Hannah," Amelia explained with a smile. "I thought I'd be in the chambers much later than I was, so the Abbots took her for the night again."

"Ahh," James smiled, remembering Hannah and Susan's friendship well enough.

"Hannah?" Amelia asked, prompting James with one of her usual questions about what the future held.

"Married, took over The Leaky. She's happy, two kids and a third on the way." James explained with a smile as he thought back to his friends.

"Married?" Amelia whispered, turning to James with the hint of juicy gossip now. "Do tell?"

"Neville Longbottom," James laughed back at Amelia's expression. "They're good together actually, she runs the Leaky, he's a professor at Hogwarts, Herbology. He's like a prodigy or something." He explained with a shrug.

"Well..." Amelia chuckled to herself. "That... I never thought I'd see that." She admitted with a smile. "Houses?"

"Neville was in Gryffindor with me, Hannah was in Hufflepuff with Susan." James explained.

"A Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor, how scandalous!" Amelia mocked with a small laugh. "I assume you've noticed how often Susan and Harry have been talking and sending owls to each other?"

"Hard not to," James laughed. "And no, I'm not going to say anything to him." He explained, holding up his hands in surrender. "If something happens with him and Susan, that's down to them. I'm not getting involved in the mini-me's girlfriend choices."

"But you wouldn't be opposed to it?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Not at all," James admitted, stretching out on the couch. "It's his life, if Susan makes him happy, that's his thing, we've already established he's going to be a different Harry than I was." He explained as he stood up. "Anyway, if little red's staying out, you hanging around for dinner then?"

"If it's not an imposition?" Amelia asked.

"Not at all, I've got a gammon joint I've been planning to cook up, plenty for the three of us." James smiled down. "Get comfortable, I'll get it started."

"Kind of you," Amelia smiled up, watching as he headed through to the kitchen before she started to take off her purple Wizengamot robes to reveal her more casual leggings and blouse underneath. "Anything I can do to help?" She asked loudly, calling through to the kitchen as she stood up to hang her robes up on the coat hanger in the corner of the room.

"I'm good," James called back.

Amelia nodded at that, heading through to the kitchen so she could continue talking with him anyway instead of sitting in the living room on her own. "So, I'll finally get to taste this cooking of yours then."

"Yup," James chuckled, his back to her as he focused on a few charms to peel some potatoes before throwing them into boil. "There's drinks in the cupboard by the door, help yourself to anything in there."

Amelia smiled at that, moving to the cupboard to investigate what sort of drinks James kept in the house, and was pleasantly surprised by a selection of wines along with the usual bottle of fire-whiskey, butterbeers and a few muggle drinks. "Wine?"

"Don't look at me, it was here when I got here." James explained with a shrug. "It'll be my grandparents, so don't blame me if it's bad or anything, I never got the hang of drinking the stuff."

"Hmmm," Amelia nodded absently, running her fingers over the various bottles of wine before making a selection of a medium dry red that would go with a gammon joint well. "Glasses?"

"Somewhere," James admitted, turning around for the first time. "Um, sorry, try the cupboard by the sink, I think I saw some wine glasses in there." He said quickly, covering up his dry mouth when he caught sight of Amelia in her more casual clothes.

"Surely we can be adults here?" Amelia chuckled, ignoring James' flustered look as she headed to the cupboard he indicated to look for a wine glass.

"Sorry," James frowned, turning around again in time to see Amelia stretching up to retrieve a glass, giving him a very nice view of her backside in the process. "It's... um..."

"There's nothing wrong with looking," Amelia chuckled, not even turning around as she found the glass she was after. "I'll admit, it's been a while since a man looked at me like that."

"Sorry," James apologised again. "But... why? I don't mean to ask anything personal but..." He frowned, gesturing to her. "I never knew what you looked like under all those robes." He said, trailing off awkwardly.

"Not all of us like to show off like you do in those tight muggle t-shirts," Amelia laughed, stalking her way over to him and tapping his chest to emphasise her point. "Most pure-blood witches are taught to be more demure and keep covered up from a young age."

"I always wondered what the thing with robes was," James muttered, shaking his head in bemusement.

"And as I explained, there aren't many wizards willing to get involved with a witch in my position, and that's not even mentioning the wizards who couldn't deal with a strong and self assured witch. Most wizards prefer their witches to be more demure and unassuming, submissive to their wishes. I have never been, and will never be a meek and submissive witch." Amelia explained with a laugh. "Judging by your memories, you have no problems with that I assume?"

"Uh, no?" James asked, more to himself than to Amelia.

"Good," Amelia grinned wolfishly, gripping on to the neck of his t-shirt with one hand and pulling him down into a searing kiss before pressing against him and pushing him to the wall so she could press the kiss as much as she wanted, savouring every moment of his earthy taste as she drew his bottom lip into her mouth and teased it gently with her teeth. "Hmmm, I was right, you are delicious." She whispered, breaking the kiss but staying pressed tightly against his body.

"Um... wow," James breathed out, not having expected that whatsoever.

"Wow indeed," Amelia smirked before pulling him down to meet her lips and into another forceful kiss as she felt his arms wrap around her and pull her even tighter against his body.

Neither of them broke for quite a while after that, both more than happy to loose each other in the kisses that became more and more passionate, it wasn't until an interruption made them pause, breaking the mood quite abruptly and causing them to jump away from each other like a bucket of ice water had been thrown over them.

"My eyes! My eyes!"

Neither of them saw the younger Harry, but the sound of his footsteps running away from the scene was more than enough to send them both laughing into hysterics for several minutes afterwards.


	7. Chapter 7

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

"Um... dad?"

"Hmnn?" James groaned aloud, recognising the voice of his mini-me calling from outside of the bedroom. "What?" He called out.

"I'm going out flying alright?"

"Yeah sure, whatever, stay within the wards, usual rules, you know, whatever." James groused, happy when he heard the footsteps outside thunder away and down the stairs. "I was never like that." He muttered to himself, rubbing his face as he tried to wake up.

"I'll bet you were," Amelia smirked as she rolled over so she was laying next to him, swinging her leg over and pressing his legs open before she started rubbing down firmly against his morning erection. "Morning," She whispered down to him, leaning down and capturing him in the first kiss of the day.

"Morning," James smiled up once she'd broken the kiss and settled in on top of him. "You sleep OK?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yes, and no I don't regret anything we did last night." Amelia grinned down, sensing what he was going to ask at some point anyway. "And I can certainly feel that you didn't." She said with a smirk, pressing her thigh down tightly between his legs and making him breath in deeply at the pressure and let out a groan of pleasure. "Hmmm? You like that?" She asked, looking down into his eyes as she pushed her thigh against his erection harder this time. "You were certainly enjoying everything we did last night." She said with a smirk as she leaned down and kissed him again. Tracing the various bites she'd left on his neck and shoulders and the red scratch marks down his sides from her nails.

"Definitely," James admitted honestly. He ached from everything they'd done, but it was such a good ache that he couldn't care how he looked if he was honest with himself. "What time is it?" He asked, doing his best to distract himself from the way Amelia kept rubbing his cock with her thigh.

"Hmm, not sure." Amelia frowned, rolling off of him for a second to collect her wand from the floor where she'd left it with her blouse, leggings and knickers. "A little before eight." She explained after casting a quick tempus charm. "Far too early to get up yet." She said, turning back to him now.

"What did you want to do today then?" Harry asked, looking over and admiring how beautiful Amelia looked with her pale silver hair tussled from the nights sleep.

"Well, I can think of a few things," Amelia smirked, flicking her wand towards James in a quick restraining charm that secured his wrists up onto the pillow over his head. "I think we can start with you first." She grinned at the word play, rolling back over to pull him into a kiss first before working down his neck and over his chest.

Restraining James down and enjoying the his body was an entirely sensual experience for Amelia, she'd been with a few wizards here and there that enjoyed letting her go on top now and again, but most of them out there were too full of themselves to let a witch control them during kissing or anything more sexual.

Here with James she could feel him accepting of everything she was doing, and as she kissed him and bit into his lip again, she felt him groan in pleasure and grind his hips up towards her while he arced his head up and tried to lean deeper into the kiss.

She definitely loved how responsive he was, at every touch she could feel him either press into her for more or wriggle under her teeth and nails, it was almost intoxicating to watch as she worked down to his stomach, leaving a trail of kisses down the soft hair before she sat back up and straddled him, pressing herself against his cock so he could feel that she was as excited this morning as he was.

"Have you got any ideas?" She asked, looking down at him and watching his eyes widen as she ground herself down on his erection. "Or breakfast first?"

"Breakfast?" James asked, frowning at the abrupt change in conversation.

"Hmmm," Amelia smirked down, adjusting her hips before sliding her way up his body so she was effectively sat on his chest with her knees either side of his head. "You can start here I think," She said with a smirk, pointing to an area half way up her thigh and waiting for him to lean his head forward and kiss it before she pointed to the same area on her other thigh. "Now, higher." She whispered, waiting for him to wriggle his head so he could start kissing further up her thighs from his position on the pillow. "Higher?" she asked when he stopped.

"I can't while you are sat there," James smiled up at her.

"Oh?" Amelia grinned down at him. "We can fix that." She said as she pushed herself forwards onto her knees properly and straddled over his face so he could start kissing his way up her inner thighs to where she definitely wanted to feel his kisses and tongue this morning.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**  
**Highlands of Scotland **  
**Scotland**

Far further north, Albus Dumbledore was not having anywhere near as good of a morning as the time displaced Harry James Potter was. Though Harry Potter was certainly on his mind, as he had been for the last month.

The fact was the boy had vanished, completely and utterly without a trace. His relatives had told him some cock and bull story about his father coming back to life and retrieving him, attacking poor Vernon in the process.

Arabella Figg had been even less help, informing him that she had barely seen young Harry this entire holiday, and had only notified him when the Dursley's had missed their usual monthly arrangement for her to babysit while they took Dudley out.

If it wasn't for the Hogwarts letter that had been sent back by owl confirming Harry's acceptance to the school, he would have been pressed to believe a dark family had found Harry and had kidnapped him for some nefarious purpose, something that he still wasn't ruling out.

The fact that young Harry had been away from his relatives for so long was worrying him more than anything, he had absolutely no idea where Harry could be, and had had little luck in convincing Kinsley or Alastor to help him in tracking down the child, as both had been apparently placed on specific duties by the DMLE in helping prepare for the upcoming slew of trials.

That was another thing that was weighing on his conscience. Sirius Black had been thrown in Azkaban without a trial. He had very little faith that Sirius was actually innocent, but should a trial not go his way, then he would be freed, free to continue his betrayal of the Potter's and finish what his master had started.

With Harry missing and away from the protection he'd provided, he would be rather easy pickings for a Death Eater of Sirius' calibre, and that wasn't even counting any other Death Eaters that he managed to join up with once he had his freedom.

It couldn't be a coincidence that with Voldemort's return, this corruption in The Ministry had been uncovered and now his right hand man, Sirius Black, was on the cusp of escaping justice. He was certain that somehow Voldemort had arranged for this, perhaps as a distraction or to regain some of his followers to assist in his plans.

He'd already arranged to move the stone from Gringotts to the school, it was obvious that Voldemort was hunting for the stone, his various informants around Europe had given him enough clues to the way the dark forces were building up and poking into various magics on the continent.

Voldemort would come for the stone, that much was certain. He just had to hope that young Harry would be in the school as he'd planned, so he could manufacture a confrontation between the two, hopefully ending the prophecy once and for all so that Voldemort could finally be dealt with.

Nothing seemed to be going according to plan, and it was extremely frustrating to the aged wizard. He'd quite literally spent a decade planning young Harry's return to the magical world, and how he would sacrifice himself so that Voldemort could be defeated. Now all those plans were thrown into chaos, and he had absolutely no idea how to recover any of them until he could see what had happened to young Harry and who had taken him from his relatives.

No, this was not a good time to be Albus Dumbledore, not a good time at all.

* * *

**Potter Manor**

"Um, so... should we... talk?" Harry asked hesitantly as he poked his head into the kitchen to where he could see his older self happily enjoying a mug of coffee.

"Not unless you want to be responsible for many years of therapy," James groused down to his younger self with a dry chuckle.

"Where's Miss Bones?" Harry asked, looking around and checking it was safe to enter and talk.

"She went to pick Susan up from the Abbot's." James explained with a shrug, enjoying a mouthful of coffee. "You're weirded out by what you saw?"

"You and Miss Bones?" Harry asked, nodding slightly. "Is that weird?"

"Not really," James shrugged, moving to the table and sitting down at it, gesturing for Harry to do the same. "Nothings going to change, me and Amelia are just..."

"Kissing?" Harry frowned thoughtfully.

"Kissing," James confirmed, hoping that his younger self kept the conversation far away from anything else that had happened last night. "Are you weirded out because it's Amelia, or because it's me?" He asked, pondering how he'd feel if he saw his younger self and Susan kissing.

"Because it's you really," Harry wrinkled his nose as he tried to think about what he was trying to say. "You're me though, just, an older me?"

"Right," James nodded in confirmation.

"Isn't that weird?" Harry asked, cocking his head to the side as he tried to understand it.

"We talked about it last night, Amelia doesn't think it's that weird." James explained with a shrug. "I'm... honestly, it's not bothering me."

"You never mentioned if you'd had a girlfriend or anything." Harry said with a thoughtful frown. "I guess I never really thought about it before."

"You're still in the 'girls are icky' stage," James grinned over. "Give it a few years and you'll start to... well, no, you won't figure girls out, I never did." He explained with a self deprecating laugh. "But girls will become more interesting to you, you'll just have to figure out which ones are worth spending some time with."

"Did you?" Harry asked, looking to his older self with interest now.

"Yes, and no." James admitted with a deep sigh. "We haven't really talked about girls yet have we?" He asked with a small grimace. "Tell me I don't have to give you The Talk, because it's far too early for the amount of alcohol that that discussion would need."

"No!" Harry quickly shook his head, more than happy to avoid that talk as long as he could.

"Good," James breathed out a sigh of relief. "OK, girls... do you have questions or is this more of a general thing?" He asked, not sure which would be better really.

"Um, did you have a girlfriend in school?" Harry asked in a small voice.

"Two," James nodded in confirmation, holding up his hand before his younger self could ask any questions. "This is where you've got to make a choice. The girls I dated were... I wouldn't call them mistakes, not both of them anyway, but if I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have kissed them."

"Oh," Harry paused, frowning at that information. "So, should I know this stuff, so I don't make the same mistakes?" He asked, thinking through what his older self was telling him.

"That's up to you," James admitted with a small sigh. "I can tell you what went wrong if you want, then it's up to you if you want to try and do it better or make different choices."

Harry nodded at that, thinking it through for a second in silence as he watched his older self drinking his coffee quietly. "OK, I want to know." He said firmly, adjusting the kitchen chair so he was comfortable.

"Alright," James nodded over the table towards him. "Ginny Weasley, and Cho Chang."

"Ginny and Cho?" Harry asked, wrinkling his nose as he thought deeply about the two names.

"They're both going to be Quidditch players, like I was." James explained. "Cho's going to be the Ravenclaw seeker, Ginny will be a chaser and replacement seeker for when you can't play."

"Oh," Harry frowned, nodding as he memorised this piece of information. "Alright, why did you say they were mistakes?"

Letting out a deep sigh, James put his coffee mug down and thought about what he was going to say. "OK, firstly, me and Cho, it never really went anywhere. It was a few kisses, and not very good kisses either. If you wanted to try and do a better job with her than I did, I'd say go for it."

"Alright," Harry smiled, accepting this piece of information. "What about Ginny?"

"Ginny," James breathed out, tussling his hair in frustration. "Ginny was probably my longest girlfriend, but she has more than her share of problems too."

"Like?" Harry asked.

"She was pretty much obsessed with me, or will be with you." James explained bluntly. "She's a fangirl who grew up reading stories and being told about you, so she's a bit manic because of it."

"She doesn't sound that great," Harry frowned, wrinkling his nose.

"She got over it, or at least, got to the point where she could talk to me without stammering every few seconds." James explained with a shrug. "But her mother is another problem, she's very controlling and domineering, she tried to push us into a wedding barely a few months after the end of school, and Ginny was just as excited and hyperactive about it, but neither of them asked me what I wanted or cared about what I wanted to do with my life."

"That's not good," Harry shook his head quickly.

"No," James confirmed with a sigh. "Look, I'm not going to tell you who you should and shouldn't like, I'm making a firm stance of staying out of your romantic life as far as possible, that's your choices, your life, that's nothing to do with me." He explained bluntly. "But those were my mistakes, and if I can stop you from making the same mistakes by telling you about them..." He trailed off, giving his younger self a small shrug.

"Alright," Harry smiled back. "Thanks." He said with a small nod. "So, um, we don't talk to each other about girls?"

"Not until you're at least old enough to drink, or I've found a good therapist, either one." James groused back with a smirk, causing Harry to break out in laughter at the face he pulled. "Give it a few years and kissing might be a thing, a few years later, then we'll talk about sex, over a bottle of firewhiskey and hopefully you won't have anyone pregnant by then. But either way, it's none of my business, so unless you want to bring anything up, I'm happy to stay out of it."

"I'm glad you came back, you make an awesome dad." Harry grinned as he stood up from the table.

"Thanks mini-me," James grinned over.

"Why do you call me that?" Harry frowned, not understanding the reference at all.

"It's from..." James started, then realised the movie wouldn't be released for about another ten years. "Never mind." He waved off the comment. "So, you're not going to be weird about me and Amelia?"

"Not as long as I don't have to watch you two kissing." Harry muttered, wrinkling up his face and sticking out his tongue in a 'yuck' expression.

"So grown up," James muttered, shaking his head. "Fine, no kissing when you're in the room, deal?"

"Deal!" Harry nodded, happy to accept that deal.

"Go on, I'm sure you've already picked out the next book from the library you want to make your way through." James laughed, draining down the last of his mug of coffee. "And don't owl Susan about me and Amelia, it'd be best if she talks to Susan first before she finds out from anyone else, alright?"

"Alright," Harry shrugged. "And yes, there's a great book on transfiguration thats got loads of notes written in it!" He explained eagerly. "I think it was one of dad's books."

"Probably," James mused with a nod, not remembering coming across that specific book. "Leave it in the study when you're done with it and I'll have a look."

"OK!" Harry beamed happily, racing out of the kitchen and upstairs to find the book in question.

"I definitely never had that much energy," James groused to himself, watching his younger self race around like he had all the energy in the world. "Amelia is going to laugh herself silly when I tell her about this." He muttered to himself before standing up and putting his mug in the sink and deciding to get on with his day.

* * *

**14 August**

**London **  
**England**

"Well?" James stood up as soon as he saw Amelia crossing the road. It had been a long discussion, several long discussions really, about why it wouldn't be a good idea for him to be in the Wizengamot building during or after Sirius' trial, but now it was happening, just sitting here and waiting for news was like torture.

"Innocent, there was absolutely no proof, no indication he was guilty of anything." Amelia confirmed with a wide smile as James swept her up into a hug. "He even took veritaserum willingly, rolled up his sleeves to show he didn't have the dark mark, even offered to have his memories of that night shown in the court pensieve."

"That's great news!" James grinned, releasing Amelia from the hug and kissing her quickly.

"Where's Harry?" Amelia asked curiously, looking around and expecting to see him waiting as impatiently as James had been.

"At the manor," James explained with a nod. "I explained to him we didn't know how long it was going to take, and we could be waiting all day without hearing anything, so he decided to wait behind, made me promise that I'd apparate back as soon as I heard anything though." He said with a smile. "What's happening now then?"

"He'll be transferred through to a secure ward at St Mungo's, only DMLE will be allowed in or out until he'd released. It's for his protection." Amelia explained.

"More like Fudge covering his arse so Sirius doesn't talk to the Prophet before he gets chance to get his side of the story out there." James groused. "I assume Dumbledore's already tried to find out about it?"

"You know him too well," Amelia nodded. "He cornered me on the way out of the chambers, insisting that he be allowed to speak with Sirius about important details that were of a private nature."

"Probably still worrying about where the mini-me is hiding out and wanting to convince Sirius to help him search for him." James snorted, shaking his head in amusement. "What did you say?"

"I asked him what could have been so important that he need to talk to him now, when hadn't spoken to an innocent man in ten years?" Amelia asked with a small smirk. "Not surprisingly, he didn't have an answer for that."

"Nosey old goat," James muttered, shaking his head in amusement at Amelia's question. "He never bothered to visit Sirius and find out if he was innocent, but now Sirius is in a position to help him, it's important that he gets to speak with him as soon as possible."

"It won't be happening." Amelia said firmly. "I've got trusted Aurors looking after the few innocent people that came out of the trials, most of them were guilty as hell, but we've got seven others, eight including Sirius, that were innocent when Barty threw them into Azkaban."

"If he wasn't already in Azkaban, he'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble right now." James mused aloud.

"More than that, three of them swore vendettas against Barty's entire blood line because of what he'd done." Amelia explained. "It's a good job Junior and his wife are dead, or I'd have to take her into protective custody just to keep her alive." She said with a frown. "If he ever gets out of Azkaban, he won't live long enough to enjoy his freedom."

"Hnh," James grunted, not really caring one way or the other about Barty Crouch after everything he'd done. "So what now, with Sirius I mean?"

"He gets better," Amelia nodded. "I'll admit, seeing him in the court room, he was actually a damn sight more lucid than a lot of the other prisoners were. Most of them could barely answer a straight question without calming draughts to help them."

"He spent most of his time in his dog form, dementors don't bother with animals." James explained with a shrug.

"That would explain it," Amelia mused thoughtfully. "I've got to get back to the department, we've got more paperwork than ever coming in because of these trials, and every-thing's got to be done by the numbers with the amount of people watching us now."

"Rather you than me," James smirked, ducking away when Amelia swiped towards his shoulder. "Susan over at the Abbott's again?"

"They offered to take her for the week while the trials were on." Amelia explained with a nod. "Mind if I apparate over tonight?"

"Read my mind," James grinned, leaning in to steal a kiss.

"Might be late though, so if you don't want to stay up..." Amelia trailed off, not really knowing how late she was going to end up working with Minister Fudge and his simpering undersecretary poking around.

"Always for you," James smiled over. "I'll keep the bath hot so you can jump right in when you arrive."

"Tease," Amelia groaned, thinking how good it would feel to have a nice long relaxing soak after a day like today. "Fine, I'll try to come over for about nine, hopefully earlier though."

"Sounds good to me." James smiled. "I'll see you then." He grinned, leaning in for one last kiss before jogging out of view and down a back alley way so he could apparate away and back to the manor to share the good news with his younger self.

* * *

**19 August**

**St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries**  
**Greater London**

Amelia nodded casually to the muggle clothed Auror outside the muggle department store shell that disguised the entranceway to St Mungo's, receiving a recognising nod back she continued on her way, stepping through the red brick wall that shimmered and parted for her as she stepped through.

Once in the main lobby area of St Mungo's she recognised more of her Auror teams automatically, some of them were obvious in their uniforms with their shields visible, but the other more subtle Aurors keeping watch were the ones that she'd hand picked for this assignment, to keep watch on the innocent patients, as well as keep watch on the rest of the Aurors to make sure nobody bribed their way into see any of the patients without the proper authorisation.

So far she'd had to reprimand two Aurors who had been happy to try and let Albus through into the hospital, with only the plain clothed Aurors stopping him and calling her in to deal with him personally.

As far as she was concerned now, Albus Dumbledore was a persona non grata in both St Mungo's, and the DMLE.

Heading to the elevator she flicked her wand to the controls, setting it to automatically take her down to the private floor where the patients were being treated for dementor exposure, abuse, malnutrition and a whole host of other problems.

"Any problems?" She asked as she stepped out of the elevator, happy to see the two plain clothed Aurors on guard were on the ball and already had their wands out as they approached her. Displaying her badge was a quick sign of identification, it wasn't foolproof, but since Auror badges couldn't be faked or duplicated, is was the best they had for now without resorting to twenty questions each time.

"None ma'am," One of the Aurors answered crisply. "No visitors, authorised or unauthorised. Random checks for animagus, disillusionment, and ward tampering, nothing so far."

"That's good," Amelia nodded, happy that at least something was going right for a change. "As you were, I'm here to talk with Mr Black." She explained with a nod.

"Room six," The other Auror nodded. "He's been quiet as a lamb actually, no trouble at all." He paused when the other Auror snorted a laugh out.

"Something to add?" Amelia asked, cocking her eyebrow at the other Auror's reaction.

"Well, not really trouble." The other Auror explained. "He's been flirting with the nurses a lot, joking around with them, that sort of thing. I swear I heard him threatening to start streaking around the halls if they didn't give him something to do."

"Oh Merlin," Amelia grimaced, shaking her head at that piece of news. "Alright, I'll do my best to convince the overgrown child to keep his clothes on."

"That'll keep the nurses happy," The Auror laughed back. "Room six, down on your left ma'am."

"Thank you." Amelia nodded before heading off towards the room he indicated, shaking her head as she tried to clear the mental images being thrown up by what the Auror had told her.

Knocking on the door she paused for a polite moment before pushing it open and heading inside, raising her eyebrow when she saw Sirius Black sitting cross legged on the bed, apparently simply playing cards against himself.

He actually looked surprisingly well, having regular meals, nutrient potions, fresh air and a comfortable bed to sleep in had done wonders for him, and he was even looking better than he had done in the memories James had shown her of his future self.

"Well, you're looking better than the last time I saw you." Amelia admitted, coming into the room properly and closing the door behind her, flicking a quick privacy charm towards the door. "I've heard you're threatening to start streaking if we don't give you something to do?" She asked, raising an eyebrow towards Sirius.

"Something, anything!" Sirius practically begged from the bed. "There's only so many times a wizard can play poker against himself, and honestly, I'm pretty sure I'm losing to myself more and more." He admitted with a frown.

"That's... disturbing," Amelia frowned, pondering if she should ask the healers to bring in a specialised mind healer for the man.

"I'll say," Sirius nodded eagerly. "So, what brings you to my lovely abode this fine day?" He asked eagerly.

"A few things really, but I wanted to see how you were doing first before we broached any other subjects." Amelia admitted. "Any visitors come by yet?"

"Not a one," Sirius complained. "You wouldn't believe it, but I actually count down the hours until the nurses come by, at least that gives me someone to talk to and catch me up on what's going on outside."

"I can imagine," Amelia laughed, gesturing towards the spare chair in the room. "Do you mind?"

"Make yourself at home," Sirius shrugged, happy to stay sitting cross legged on the bed. "I assume it's you I've got to thank for getting me a trial at last?" He asked with a curious expression on his face. "You're the only visitor I've had, and the privacy charms on the door told me you wanted to speak without anyone listening in."

"You'd be correct," Amelia nodded patiently. "Amelia Bones, Department Head of the DMLE." She said, introducing herself formally.

"Damn sight better than Crouch was." Sirius barked out a laugh. "Heard he got himself thrown in Azkaban as well, serves the git right for what he did to me."

"Quite," Amelia nodded.

"Alright, so, what do you want?" Sirius asked bluntly. "I don't figure you got me a trial without expecting something in return, so, hit me with it."

"I didn't do it for you." Amelia countered, just as bluntly, reaching into her robes and bringing out a folded piece of parchment. "Your godson, Harry, sends his regards." She explained, holding out the parchment.

"Harry?" Sirius whispered, his eyes going wide as this news as he practically fell off the bed in a scramble to dash over to her and take the offered parchment from her hand. "Harry sent this?" He demanded, kneeling on the floor in front of Amelia's chair and holding the parchment reverently.

"He's starting Hogwarts in a few weeks," Amelia nodded with a smile on her face at how Sirius was hanging on to her every word. "He's become quite good friends with my niece, Susan."

"Hogwarts, already?" Sirius whispered, shaking his head in shock at that news that made the decade he'd spent in Azkaban feel even more real. "He... the last time I saw him, he was barely walking."

"He's flying now," Amelia smiled. "Even got his own broom, practising for seeker if you can believe it."

"I can," Sirius barked out a laugh. "James loved playing chaser, he was sure Harry was going to take after him."

"I'd say that's a good bet," Amelia nodded with a wide smile. "He knows who you are, who you are to him, and he knows you're innocent." Sirius practically puffed up at this news, his smile beaming and more colour coming to his face than he'd ever had before.

"I've got some parchment and a quill, you can write back to him if you want." Amelia explained.

"Where's he living? Who's he living with? Does he have more friends? Does he play Quidditch a lot? Has he got his wand yet? Does he..."

"Slow down," Amelia laughed, holding up her hand to cut Sirius off. "I can't tell you much, we're keeping his location a secret for now."

"Why?" Sirius frowned, shaking his head as he tried to think about why Harry would be in hiding still.

"What do you remember about that night, the last time you saw Harry?" Amelia asked. "I understand it's a painful memory, but I've got to ask."

"The night... the night Prongs died." Sirius choked out. "I got there, but I was too late, the house... it was a disaster." He explained, swallowing audibly as he focused on the memory. "I got Harry, swaddled him up in some blankets and got him out of the house, but Hagrid was outside..."

"Why was Hagrid outside?" Amelia asked, interrupting the story.

"I..." Sirius paused, frowning in thought for a second. "I don't know?" He admitted. "Nobody knew about the attack yet, I'd already been on my way there to warn James and Lily about Peter, even I didn't know about it until I got there." He explained.

"Alright, what happened then?" Amelia asked.

"Hagrid told me to give Harry to him, that Dumbledore said he was going to check Harry over to make sure he was alright." Sirius explained. "I lent him my motorbike as well, then I went after chasing Pettigrew."

"I remember from what you told the court room," Amelia nodded. "Hagrid... I don't know where he took Harry, but it ended up with Albus Dumbledore leaving Harry on the doorstep of Lily's sister. Did you ever meet her?"

"Too right I did, miserable old cow." Sirius grumbled. "Harry's not living with her is he?"

"Not any more." Amelia said quickly, holding up her hand to stop Sirius' rant. "Albus Dumbledore arranged for Harry to be there even before you'd been arrested."

"That's not right," Sirius frowned. "I was supposed to be his guardian, I'm his Godfather."

"Exactly," Amelia nodded. "Yet Albus sent Hagrid to take Harry and deliver him to Lily's sister. Can you think of any reason why he'd do something like that?"

"No," Sirius answered quickly, frowning and clenching his fists. "He really did that?" Sirius demanded.

"Harry was placed there the night after James and Lily died, you weren't in Azkaban until a few days afterwards after you caught up to Peter Pettigrew." Amelia explained, laying out the dates accordingly. "Harry should have been left with you, Albus had no right to send Hagrid to take him from you that night."

"And he's going to bloody tell me why he did that!" Sirius swore angrily, furious that Dumbledore had done such a thing, and that he couldn't even be bothered to come and visit him in Azkaban to see his innocence for himself.

"He's been trying to get into St Mungo's to see you, I've been blocking him, for now, but once you're released..." Amelia trailed off.

"Oh I'll find him first, don't you worry about that." Sirius said darkly.

"He's trying to get in touch with you, we believe, so he can convince you to help him find Harry." Amelia explained.

"He doesn't know where Harry is either?" Sirius asked, shocked at this piece of news before letting out a bark of laughter. "Now that's a great prank." He exclaimed with a wide grin.

"That's how we want to keep it, nobody knows where he is, just me, Susan, and one other." Amelia explained. "I can't tell you who, not yet, but you can trust them, trust them as much as you trust Harry in fact."

Sirius contemplated this for a moment before nodding slowly, he was taking a lot on faith here, but Madame Bones had done more for him in the last few days than anyone had in the last decade. If anyone deserved his trust after everything that had happened, she did.

"I can write to him though?" Sirius asked.

"Read that first, I'll take your letter and pass it on to him." Amelia nodded over. "Every few days I'll come back to check on how your doing, I should have a new letter for your each time."

"I wish all owls looked like you," Sirius smirked before laughing out loud at her glare as he unfolded the parchment and engrossed himself in the letter, drowning in the words written by his godson and savouring every sentence.


	8. Chapter 8

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**21 August**  
**Margate Beach **  
**Margate**

James looked around curiously as he apparated onto the beach, it was still early in the morning so as he stepped onto the sands he was happy to see the beach was nicely deserted.

"You made it,"

He grinned as he span around, recognising Amelia's voice instantly and smiling wider when he saw she was dressed down casually again in more muggle friendly jeans and a blouse that he was getting used to seeing her in.

"I did," He replied with a small laugh, walking over and enjoying the feeling of the sand crunching underneath his heavy boots.

The other witch that was standing alongside Amelia was someone he didn't recognise at all, but since he was here to meet Julia Greengrass at Amelia's request, he felt it was a safe bet that it was here.

She was taller than Amelia by quite a bit, taller than him even, and while her clothes would look a bit out of place on a muggle beach, the long emerald green skirt and white blouse complete with emerald jewellery, she wasn't drastically standing out like most witches or wizards did.

"James, meet Julia." Amelia nodded, introducing the two as he approached.

"So this is where you've been hiding," Julia smirked, looking James up and down slowly with an approving glint in her eye. "Rather rugged, but I can't deny that I see the appeal."

"Because you know I crave your approval," Amelia muttered dryly, shaking her head at her best friend.

"Well, you're certainly smiling a lot more these past few weeks, so I do have to assume that James here had something to do with it?" Julia grinned lavishly at her. "But I doubt you brought us both all the way out here for me to simply drool over your new boy toy."

"Well, showing him off does have a certain pleasure, but no." Amelia shook her head, smirking at how Julia laughed at her. "I'm afraid we're going to have to be rather blunt in this discussion, so you'll forgive me for not beating around the bush so to speak."

"But I thought you always did enjoy beating around the bush?" Julia smirked back, noting how James raised his eyebrow towards Amelia at the innuendo. "Fine, I'll behave." She commented when Amelia sent her a soft glare. "What is it you have to say that dragged me out of bed at this Merlin forsaken hour?"

"We have proof You-Know-Who is back." Amelia said bluntly, causing all the colour to drain from Julia's face in an instant.

James had to snort at that, looking at how Julia was simply staring at Amelia in horror, her eyes wide and clearly praying that this was just a joke. "If you wanted her catatonic, that's how to do it I guess?"

"And you did it any better? Hitting me with it like you were slapping me in the face with a wet fish." Amelia muttered, rolling her eyes at him.

"You're not joking?" Julia whispered.

"I'm afraid not," Amelia shook her head. "It's going to become public knowledge in a few weeks, if all goes according to plan that is."

"Well," Julia swallowed audibly, looking at both James and Amelia. "That ruined a perfectly good day." She muttered, almost wishing that she'd just stayed in bed.

"It gets worse," Amelia said with a small smile, reaching out and putting her hand on Julia's shoulder reassuringly.

"Oh how could it get worse than You-Know-Who returning?" Julia all but demanded.

"He's at Hogwarts, possessing one of the professors." Amelia explained.

"You really don't do subtle, do you?" James laughed as Julia simply gaped at her best friend. "Unfortunately, it's true."

"Are you trying to ruin my week?" Julia shouted, shaking off Amelia's hand and stepping away so she could pace angrily. "You-Know-Who is back, not only that, but he's right under my nose and in reach of a thousand children?" She demanded. "And you're telling me this now, not two weeks before the school year starts!"

"We're going to take care of it," Amelia promised, doing her best to calm her friend down. "Really, we've got a plan, admittedly it's not the best plan, but it's the best that we can work with."

"You've got a plan," Julia barked out an almost hysterical laugh. "To face You-Know-Who?" She demanded. "Who the hell are you to think you can stop him?"

"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself properly," James smiled, stepping forward and holding out his hand. "James Potter." He introduced himself bluntly.

"James... James Potter?" Julia whispered, staring at him in a mixture of shock and awe before flicking her attention to Amelia who simply nodded in confirmation. "You're dead?"

"The afterlife's been good to me," James grinned dryly.

"You... you and... Harry... you're going to deal with this?" Julia whispered, still coming to terms that she was apparently stood on a beach with someone that was supposed to be long dead, someone that was practically a legend to the pure blood families.

"I will," James nodded firmly. "Harry stays out of this."

"Tell me everything, every single thing!" Julia demanded, swivelling her attention back to Amelia now. "My little girl starts Hogwarts this year, but if she's not going to be safe..."

"Susan does as well don't you forget," Amelia reminded her with a mild glare. "You think I don't know the urge to take her and get out of this country as fast as I can?"

Julia nodded at this, slowly accepting that Amelia wouldn't put Susan at risk any more than she'd risk Daphne or Astoria.

"It's your plan," Amelia shrugged, looking over at James and drawing Julia's attention over to him.

"Alright, this is what I think we're going to do..." James started, taking a deep breath before outlining the basics of the plan to Julia, and hoping that Amelia was right in who she could trust.

* * *

**29 August**  
**St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries**  
**Greater London**

"You're back!"

Amelia snorted with laughter as she came through into Sirius' room at St Mungo's, shaking her head at how Sirius bounced off his bed eagerly for the news and letter she normally brought with her for her visits.

For the last week and a half now she'd made regular visits to Sirius, bringing letters from Harry and James with her and ferrying letters back to them. She had to admit, she'd actually grown to get to know Sirius quite well during the time, and while he still acted like an overgrown child sometimes, his more manic personality and irrepressible joking nature had been tempered somewhat by the treatments he'd been receiving.

"From Harry," Amelia smiled, holding up a muggle plastic bag and gently throwing it towards Sirius, who caught it easily and turned to eagerly tip out the contents onto his bed before staring at them in confusion.

"I know my name is Black, but he's hitting the nail on the head a bit too hard isn't he?" Sirius asked, looking down at the muggle clothes with a frown.

There was a pair of black jeans, along with a black t-shirt with 'Rolling Stones' emblazoned across the front along with some sort of logo of a woman's mouth poking her tongue out. A short black leather jacket finished the ensemble along with some comfortable shoes.

"Harry spent most of his life in the muggle world, and since I'm going to be taking you to see him today, I thought you'd like to dress appropriately." Amelia explained, raising her eyebrow at him.

"I'm getting out of here?" Sirius practically shouted with glee, grabbing his pale blue robes that the hospital had given him and starting to tear them off.

"Bathroom Black!" Amelia stopped him before he could get too far, turning around quickly just in case he ignored her shout.

"Right, sorry." Sirius nodded quickly, gathering up the clothes and running through from his private room to the adjacent bathroom. "You mean it though? You wouldn't joke with an old dog about something like that?"

"I mean it," Amelia sighed, thankful that she could turn around now without the threat of seeing far more of Sirius than she would like to. "Since Harry leaves for Hogwarts in a few days, it's become necessary that we have this conversation soon."

"That sounds serious," Sirius frowned, coming out of the bathroom in the black jeans and tugging the t-shirt over his tattooed torso. "And surprisingly, I didn't mean that as a joke."

"I'm sure," Amelia muttered dryly, watching as Sirius fumbled with the shoes before managing to get them on. "We'll be meeting Harry and... his guardian, in the woodlands just outside of Kent." Amelia explained, going through the plan that she'd concocted with James.

"You're still not telling me who it is?" Sirius asked with a frown.

"I would, but you'd likely not believe me," Amelia explained. "It's one of those things you have to see to believe."

"And the out of the way meeting place?" Sirius asked.

"Because very likely it's going to be a volatile meeting, shouting isn't far out of the question as far as we can tell." Amelia admitted with a small grimace.

"Doesn't sound promising," Sirius muttered, pulling on the leather motorbike jacket and admiring how it fit comfortably. "Actually, I take it back, these clothes aren't that bad at all." He admitted with a small smile as he admired his reflection.

"Harry's... guardian picked them." Amelia explained. "Apparently he knows of your displeasure of pure-blood robes and trappings, he thought the muggle clothes might appeal to your sense of humour."

"He's right," Sirius admitted slowly. "He knows me then?"

"Well enough," Amelia nodded, willing to give Sirius that much. "He's also got a rather long and fantastical story to tell you."

"I always liked stories," Sirius admitted with a dry smirk. "And I'm just supposed to trust this blindly?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Amelia shook her head. "He told me to tell you, a password of some sort? Apparently it would mean something to you?" She explained, pausing and wincing at how stupid it sounded. "I can't believe I'm saying this." She muttered to herself before continuing. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." She said aloud.

The change in Sirius was instant, from his suspicious and dubious face he switched automatically to an open and almost eager expression, with curiosity sparkling in his eyes and a breath of new life in his stance.

"I assume that was right then?" Amelia asked, noting the change in Sirius' face.

"Oh yes," Sirius grinned openly. "Do I at least get to know a name of this mysterious guardian before we meet?"

"He said you'd ask for that," Amelia chuckled, shaking her head at how well James had known this would go. "He said 'you can call me Leo, Padfoot,' whatever that means."

"Leo," Sirius grinned, the clues piling up and giving him a sense of amusement again. Whoever it was knew of his animagus skill, and his name. They knew about The Marauders and their password, and most importantly had enough of a sense of humour to use the Director of the DMLE as a messenger owl to tell him all of this. "Alright then, shall we?" He asked with a grin.

"If you're ready," Amelia nodded, bringing out a quill from her pocket and holding it out. "A portkey that will take us directly there, I'd rather not have you walking around outside where Albus could get to you." She explained.

"I'll be making my own way to deal with Dumbledore," Sirius frowned, having his own plans for the meddling old bastard.

"You might want to put those aside until after this meeting," Amelia said with a knowing smile. "Trust me, it'll be worth it."

"There's a lot of trust on my side here," Sirius frowned, but walked over to take hold of the quill.

"If I was going to hurt you, I could have just left you in Azkaban," Amelia pointed out bluntly as Sirius took hold of the quill. "Activate." She ordered aloud, activating the portkey and whisking them both away from the hospital in a whirlwind of colour and magic.

* * *

Standing in the forest, James was comfortably leaning up against a tree, dressed in his usual heavy jeans, boots, t-shirt and dragon-skin coat, while his younger self was pacing around the forest nervously, clearly trying to burn off some of that anxious energy.

"But what if he doesn't like me?"

"You'll be fine," James chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. He'd had a very different introduction to Sirius than his younger self was getting, he had also been a few years more mature. A lot of life had happened in those three short years, which had left him a very different person to the nervous young Harry that was meeting his godfather for the first time.

"But what..." Harry trailed off as an 'ohff' and a whumping sound echoed through the forest, cutting his sentence off.

"That'll be them," James chuckled to himself. "I guess Sirius is out of practice with portkeys." He grinned in amusement at the thought. "There's probably going to be some shouting OK? But he's not shouting at you, he'll be annoyed because of how I look alright?" He asked, trying to reassure his younger self.

"But you look like me?" Harry frowned, looking up to his older self with a puzzled expression.

"I also look almost identical to our dad," James pointed out. "Who died the same night the last time he saw you." He explained. "Honestly, I've got no idea how he's going to take that."

"So... um... should I go first?" Harry asked nervously.

"We'll go together," James smiled down, tapping his younger self on his shoulder. "We Harry's have to stick together right?"

"Right," Harry grinned up at him. Happy to let his older self take the lead over towards where the sounds had come from.

As they approached both of them could make out the voices in the clearing, with Amelia reminding Sirius to stay calm and Sirius asking where they were and where Harry was.

"I'm here." The younger Harry smiled as he walked out of the forest into the clearing, waving gingerly towards Sirius.

Sirius' eyes however weren't on the younger Harry, but had gone wide at the sight behind him. "Who the hell are you?" He demanded, his eyes going from wide and shocked to narrow and dangerous in a split second. "And why the hell are you looking like that?"

"Because this is how I look Padfoot," James shot back.

"Prongs is dead!" Sirius spat out, wishing he had a wand so he could curse the hell out of whoever was pretending to be his best friend.

"Yes," James nodded sadly.

This seemed to stop Sirius cold, he hadn't expected the faux-James to agree with him, he'd expected denial, some cock and bull story, lies and deception. Not for him to actually agree with him. "Not Prongs?"

"Not Prongs," James nodded.

"Why'd you look like him then? You're even wearing his coat?" Sirius demanded.

"Take a closer look," James nodded, slowly walking forwards with his younger self alongside him, pointing to his eyes as he approached so Sirius could spot the different colour.

"You... you look like..." Sirius frowned, flicking his eyes between the young Harry and the faux-James. "Harry?" He whispered, as if seeing his godson for the first time.

"Hi," Harry smiled nervously.

"You got big," Sirius grinned wildly, happy to see that at least his godson was happy and healthy. "I haven't seen you since you were a baby." He smiled over, flicking his attention up to the faux-James. "Who are you then?" Sirius demanded.

"I've had a few names," James admitted honestly. "But it's a long story, and you'll probably want proof."

"Depends how stupid is sounds?" Sirius frowned thoughtfully.

"I'm Harry, from about thirty years in the future." James said bluntly. "How about that?"

Sirius simply blinked at that, staying silent for a moment before he blinked again and barked out a sharp laugh. "Definitely stupid enough." He exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "Come on then, who are you?"

"He's me," Harry smiled up, happy to have something to contribute.

"That's not possible Pronglet," Sirius said, shaking his head. "Time turners don't work like that." He said firmly. "Last chance, who are you?"

"I'm Harry Potter." James said firmly. "You're Sirius Orion Black, Padfoot to his friends. Dad was Prongs, Mooney was Remus, and Pettigrew was Wormtail. You grew up at Grimmauld place, but ran away during the summer at Hogwarts and went to live with The Potters. You were a member of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, even though he's a manipulative old bastard who let you rot in prison all these years."

"How'd you know all that?" Sirius demanded, narrowing his eyes again.

"I'm Harry," James said bluntly, rolling his eyes. "Because you told me, will tell me, whatever." He groaned, shaking his head. "Look, I didn't ask for this, I didn't try and come back here, I was happy living my life as an Auror, but here I am." He grunted, gesturing around.

Sirius frowned at that, stepping forwards and mid-step shifting down into his Padfoot persona, making young Harry jump back in surprise and look at him in awe.

He took a few more cautious steps towards the faux-James, sniffing him dubiously and pacing around him, sniffing and looking for any hint of a trick or a glamour.

"I think I preferred you last time around," James grunted to himself, ruffling his hair in frustration when he realised at least crazy, half starved and manic Sirius had listened to him at the Shrieking Shack.

Padfood growled at that, his Grimm form baring his teeth up at the faux-James.

What he hadn't expected was for the faux-James to shift and ripple with golden fur, before Padfoot was very quickly faced with around five hundred pounds of lion, directly in his face.

Harry very quickly scampered back from the sight, moving to stand by Amelia as Sirius and James prowled around each other. "What are they doing?"

"Posturing, wizards." Amelia muttered, shaking her head at the sight.

Padfoot seemed to take a moment to screw up his courage before he growled again, baring his teeth at the lion.

Leo in response let out a roar that practically deafened Padfoot before shifting back into James, glaring down at the Grim who was now cowering with his head under his paws. "Are we going to talk now? Or do you want to finish with scratching and biting?"

Padfoot whimpered again before he shifted back, standing up slowly as Sirius again and stepping close to James. "Harry?" He whispered, looking closely into his eyes.

"Hi Sirius," James smiled fondly.

"How... how is this possible?" Sirius demanded, looking from him across to Harry's younger self. "You shouldn't be here."

"Damned if I know," James admitted. "But if I wasn't, you'd still be in Azkaban for the next two years before you escaped." He explained with a shrug.

"I escaped?" Sirius beamed widely, thinking how that must have been the most epic prank ever.

"To catch Pettigrew, he was at Hogwarts disguised as a rat." James explained.

"Pettigrew," Sirius snarled. "He's at Hogwarts?"

"He was," James admitted thoughtfully. "Whether he is or not this time..." He trailed off with a shrug. "He was living as a pet rat of one of my room mates, but since it's been in all the papers that you're free now?" He explained, shrugging as he had absolutely no idea how that was going to change things.

"I caught him?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"No, he got away." James shook his head.

"Damn," Sirius frowned with a dejected look. "You're really Harry, really from the future?"

I've got a pensieve full of memories if you want," James explained. "You're probably not going to like them though."

"Where's Mooney?" Sirius demanded, looking around.

"Honestly? No idea." James admitted with a frown.

"You haven't met Mooney?" Sirius frowned, looking from James over to the younger Harry. "But... he... I thought..." Sirius stumbled over the words, trying to get his thoughts straight in his head. "When did you meet Mooney?" He asked, looking to the older Harry now.

"Third year, Dumbledore hired him to be the Defence professor, but I didn't find out he was one of dad's friends until about half way through the year." James explained.

"Why the hell not?" Sirius demanded.

"Because he didn't tell me," James shot back with a glare. "Don't start with me Sirius, I've got enough on my plate right now without your drama queen antics adding to it." He said firmly.

"No son of Prongs could ever grow up that serious," Sirius spat back. "What happened to you?"

"You died!" James yelled back. "Mum and dad died, you died, Remus died, everyone died!" He shouted, getting up in Sirius' face. "You want to know what my life's been like? There it is. Everyone died." He bit out. "I had Dumbledore controlling my life, raising me up to practically commit suicide to defeat Voldemort, it's a miracle that I even survived, so you'll forgive me if I'm not in the mood for your antics when I only had a few months to get to know you last time!"

"I... I died?" Sirius blanched, stumbling back from the rant in shock.

"Department of Mysteries, five years from now." James explained bluntly. "Bellatrix caught you off guard and you fell through The Veil."

"I'm... dead?" Sirius whispered.

"Deader than disco." James shot back. "So, now I've got this miracle chance to change everything and fix all that shit, are you going to stop being a drama queen for ten seconds and actually listen to me?"

"I'm... I'm sorry?" Sirius blinked. "Should I be apologising for something I haven't done yet?" He frowned at the thought. "I'd never leave you alone Pronglet, trust me on that."

"You did," James sighed, ruffling his hair. "It wasn't your fault though, with you on the run and hiding from The Aurors, Dumbledore kept you in hiding at Grimmauld Place."

"That dump? Why the hell would I step foot back in that house?" Sirius demanded.

"Because Dumbledore needed a headquarters for his little club, and if he kept you there then he could control when I got to see you and what you taught me." James explained bluntly.

"Dumbledore did that?" Sirius frowned, not liking anything he was hearing about Dumbledore lately.

"Are you two done arguing yet?" Harry asked, looking up from where he'd simply been watching the two with Amelia. "Because I just finally got a family I like, and I don't like you arguing." He said firmly, crossing his arms with a serious expression on his face.

"You taught him that?" Sirius asked, looking at James with a cocked eyebrow.

"The mini-me came up with that all on his own," James chuckled, shaking his head. "He.. We... we grew up at The Dursley's, my aunt, Lily's sister. It wasn't exactly the best place."

"I'd heard," Sirius said with a dark expression. "You got Harry out of there?"

"As soon as I found out I could change things here," James nodded back. "He's been living with me for just nearly two months now." He explained.

"Well? Are you done?" Harry asked, looking up at the two grown men.

"We're done," James nodded down to him. "I did tell you there was going to be shouting."

"You said he'd be shouting, not you." Harry frowned up as he walked over to the two. "Nice to meet you." He said with a small smile towards Sirius.

"Good to see you again too Pronglet." Sirius laughed, looking down at the younger Harry. "So, you're going by Leo now then?" He asked, looking over at the adult Harry. "Suppose that's less confusing than calling you both Harry."

"Actually," James frowned, ruffling his hair. "I'm pretending to by my dad, so Dumbledore can't use it as an excuse to take Harry back to the Dursleys."

"You're... you're pretending to be James?" Sirius demanded before cooling off and thinking about it for a second. "If you're who you say you are, then... then if anyone has the right to do that, it'd be you." He nodded, taking a deep breath. "But I won't be calling you James or Prongs any time soon. You're Leo, that's it as far as I'm concerned."

"You should have seen his face the first time I called him dad!" Harry grinned up at Sirius, the amusement showing on his face.

"You... you're calling your older self dad?" Sirius groaned aloud, looking between the two of them.

"And you wonder why I'm looking for a mind healer," James muttered dryly, looking over to Amelia with a roll of his eyes.

At that Sirius barked out a loud laugh, staring between the two Harry's in awe and amazement as James wandered over and snaked his arm around Amelia's shoulders. "Wait, you and... you two?"

"You've got a problem with that?" Amelia asked, raising one steely eyebrow dangerously.

"No, no, not at all." Sirius shook his head quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm just wondering if you've got a younger sister anywhere you can introduce me too."

"We've got enough to do without you chasing witches around," James grunted, rolling his eyes at Sirius' antics. "Voldemort's back." He said, cooling the mood considerably.

"How?" Sirius demanded.

"He made horcruxes, phylacteries, soul containers to cheat death." James explained with a frown.

"I know what a horcrux is," Sirius grunted, waving off the explanation. "Horcruxes, more than one?"

"Five," James nodded. "Five at the moment anyway. I've destroyed one already, and I know where the others are." He explained.

"You're hunting them down?" Sirius nodded approvingly. "Then that bastard can be killed off for good?"

"That's the plan," James nodded, ignoring the way Amelia swiped at Sirius' arm for swearing in front of Harry. "Ones at Grimmauld, Kreacher's got it. Regulus stole it from Voldemort, he was trying to defect back to the right side."

"Regulus... he... he was fighting Voldemort?" Sirius whispered in shock.

"He died trying to destroy it," James nodded, reaching up and putting his hand on Sirius shoulder. "When you're ready, we can go to Grimmauld Place and destroy that one too."

"When..." Sirius smiled thankfully, admitting that he at least needed a few days to let all of this sink in before he went back to the old Black family home. "You have a plan?"

"Always," James grinned over.

"You look just like your dad, you know that?" Sirius asked, smiling fondly over to him. "But..."

"I've got my mother's eyes," James finished off, rolling his eyes at the sentence he'd heard so many times.

"Alright," Sirius laughed, clapping his hands together. "What now then?"

"Now, we get to know each other." James smiled over, gesturing to his younger self and to Amelia. "The manor?" He asked, looking to Amelia.

"Sirius?" Amelia asked, looking to him before continuing. "The Potter's live at Potter Manor, located in the forests on the edge of the Peak District outside of Honley."

Sirius blinked for a second before that knowledge rushed into his brain and settled there, letting him regain all the memories of Potter Manor and living there with James, Flea and Euphemia. "You found it," He breathed out happily, content as all the memories flooded back to him. "I thought the dementors had stolen those memories."

"I found it," James smiled back. "Come on, lets get something to eat." He smiled, watching as Amelia held on to Harry to apparate him away before he grabbed onto Sirius and side-alonged him up to Potter Manor.


	9. Chapter 9

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

AN: Minor text taken from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling.

* * *

**1st September**  
**Kings Cross Station**  
**London**

"How was Sirius when you left?" Amelia asked as they walked through the muggle area of Kings Cross station, Harry and Susan in the lead with their trolleys, eager to get to the train and start their journey towards Hogwarts.

"Bitching about being left out, the usual really." James muttered, keeping his eye out around the station for The Weasleys or anyone else that he would recognise. "But he stayed at the Manor, I finally got it through to his thick head that if something goes wrong, he's the only person Harry will have left to turn to."

"What did he say to that?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow as she nodded towards the group of three Aurors that were patrolling the station this morning.

"Grumbled about being left out of the greatest prank in history, but sat on the couch and stuck his nose in a magazine." James explained with a shrug. "He's just pissy because I'll be confronting Dumbledore and he's stuck at the manor."

"Being stuck in Azkaban hasn't really helped him grow up much, it's going to take some time for him to come to terms with the fact he's not a Hogwarts kid anymore." Amelia explained patiently.

"That's the problem," James sighed, ruffling his hair in frustration as they passed through the stone wall separating the muggle area of the platform and walked through to Platform Nine and Three Quarters to where Harry and Susan were already waiting for them. "He's looking at me like I'm just another James, trying to relive his golden years, he can't accept that that's not going to happen."

"Give him some time, it's only been a few days, he's got a lot to come to terms with." Amelia pointed out patiently as they headed towards the train, making sure Susan and Harry were sticking together in the crowd and talking between themselves. "You've got your shield?" She asked in a quick whisper.

James nodded, tapping his belt where he'd clipped it on underneath his coat. "Updated the charms on it as well, and added a few of my own. And I've got the wand, and the rest." He explained, knowing that he had the resurrection stone around his neck and the invisibility cloak in his inside pocket.

"You're sure this is going to work?" She asked hesitantly, coming to a stop in front of the train carriages where Susan and Harry were waiting.

"As sure as I can be," James shrugged. "Alright, we'll be on the train with you, so you can leave your trunks and things in the compartment with us, but I know you two want to look around the train and get to know some of your class mates, so you can find your own compartment if you want."

"Thanks!" Harry grinned up eagerly, happy to make new friends on his train ride towards the magical school.

"Come on then, I'll help you up." James grinned, grabbing Harry's luggage trunk from the trolley and leaving him to carry Hedwig's cage. "And remember, during the sorting and before, don't look anyone in the eyes, if anyone tries anything, come and find me straight away alright?"

"You're both coming to Hogwarts with us?" Susan asked, looking to her aunt now for an explanation.

"Just for the train journey, we won't be staying long." Amelia explained with a smile, wishing she could tell Susan more of their plans but not willing to risk someone using legilimency on her before they could see things through.

"Oh, alright." Susan shrugged. Lifting up the wicker basket her pale grey kitten was in so that her aunt could help her with her trunk.

It didn't take them long to find an empty carriage for them to populate, getting comfortable there after storing the kid's luggage on the overhead racks. One of the advantages of getting here early was that they practically had their pick of the train.

He'd spent extra time this morning making sure he looked almost identical to the photos he had of his father, finding them around the manor from his grandparents had been a godsend, so he'd managed to transfigure a pair of glasses to the exact same style that James had worn, styled his hair into the appropriately messy look that James favoured, and spent extra time covering up his scar properly with muggle makeup, which had led to endless amounts of comments and ribbing from Sirius.

All that work combined with the hazel coloured contact lenses that Amelia had got for him changed his look rather dramatically, and even Sirius had sucked in a deep breath when he'd seen him for the first time, and loudly decreed "Prongs rides again!" at the top of his voice.

"Go on, I know you two don't want to be stuck with us oldies for the entire trip," Amelia smiled over from where she'd sat down alongside James. "Go and look around, introduce yourself and have fun. You know where we'll be if you need us."

"Thanks auntie!" Susan grinned back, bouncing out of her seat eagerly to start hunting down Hannah and meeting everyone else.

"Go on," James chuckled, nodding towards Harry. "You remember everyone I told you about?"

"Uhhuh," Harry nodded back, having memorised all the names that his future self had told him about.

"Have fun then," James chuckled to himself as his younger self dashed off with Susan, both obviously looking for people their own age to start talking to.

"No sign of the Weasley's yet." Amelia commented, looking out the train window around the platform.

"It's only quarter to, still early for them." James explained with a shake of his head. "They won't be here until the train is practically ready to leave, every year it's the same."

Amelia shook her head in disbelief at that, it wasn't hard to get to the train platform on time, and running late would run the risk of missing the train altogether and having to make other arrangements to get to Hogwarts, not something any first year student would want to go through.

"There's Julia," Amelia commented, nodding out the window to where she could see Julia Greengrass coming through the portal with Daphne and Astoria. "You still don't remember Daphne?"

"Not really," James shrugged. "It was twenty five years ago, and my school years weren't exactly quiet." He admitted. "She might have been in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff or even Slytherin and I wouldn't have noticed her." He explained.

"Thankfully you're not that oblivious anymore." Amelia smirked over to him, nodding respectfully out the window when Julia noticed them. "You asked Harry to keep an eye on Susan and Daphne?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "He said he'll keep an eye on them both, but if we do everything right today, he shouldn't have any reason too."

"And how often does everything go according to plan?" Amelia asked dubiously as Julia escorted Daphne onto the train and joined them in their compartment to leave her trunk and owl with them before Daphne headed off to find Harry and Susan.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

At Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore was impatiently awaiting news. He'd had his most trusted spy watching Platform Nine and Three Quarters this morning, hoping to receive word that young Harry Potter had made it onto the train, and more importantly, word about who had been with the young Mr Potter.

He'd informed Molly Weasley of course as well, she would be keeping her eye out for Harry in her usual manner and would happily help him get settled into his new life. Ronald was set to intercept Harry on the train and strike up a friendship with the lonely young boy, and once they were at Hogwarts, then he would be able to spend some time with Harry more discretely to find out what had been going on and work on returning Harry to his relatives.

So far though, nothing was going right. He'd been searching high and low for Sirius Black for the past few days after learning he'd been released from St Mungo's, but neither Kingsley nor Alastor had managed to hear even a whisper of Sirius appearing around Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, or anywhere else.

It was almost as if Sirius had vanished off the face of the planet, and Albus was almost convinced that Sirius had fled the country to make a fresh start somewhere else. It was an impetuous and foolish move in his eyes, but was something he could very well see Sirius doing.

"Severus?" Albus looked up from his desk as his office door slammed open, the heavy wooden door actually slamming back into the stone work with a deafening bang as Severus skulked into the office, his face even paler than it normally was, and his expression was like he'd just seen a ghost. "Severus, what is it? Did you find Harry Potter?"

"Potter? Potter? Yes I found the brat of course, he's not the problem." Severus snarled out. "Potter was there as well somehow!" He shouted.

"Potter?" Albus frowned, not understanding what Severus was ranting about.

"James bloody Potter!" Severus yelled out. "He was there, with that brat son of his, along with Amelia Bones, walking and chatting like they were old friends."

"Severus, that's not possible." Albus said with a calming voice. "Surely you must be..."

"I know James Potter when I see him!" Severus ranted. "That was James bloody Potter, I'd never forget that face." He snarled out.

"James and Lily are dead, we know this." Albus explained, effecting a tone of melancholy as he spoke to Severus. "I know you wish it wasn't so, but the fact remains..."

"If I was going to hallucinate a bloody Potter, it wouldn't be James or that brat of his." Severus bit out, making damn sure that Albus knew who he was talking about. "I'm telling you. That was James Potter."

"That's not possible." Albus said firmly.

"Their bodies were never found, their wands, nothing." Severus snapped towards Albus. "You had an empty grave filled in as a marker, to fuel that ridiculous legend you built up around the Potter brat."

"If James or Lily had survived that night, I would have known." Albus said with self assured confidence. "They would have contacted me. Their bodies were simply destroyed by the same magic that destroyed Voldemort."

"Because they were supposed to trust you after you had that oaf kidnap the brat away from Black?" Severus snarled, shaking his head. "It was James Potter, I'm telling you. He survived somehow, and it's all coming back to haunt you now."

"It was NOT James Potter!" Albus shouted, standing up from his desk and slamming his hands down. "The Potter's died, sacrificing themselves to ensure young Harry's survival. That is the end of it. Understood!" He yelled, making sure Severus was paying attention to every word. "You will proceed exactly as we had planned, ensure young Harry stays humble and belittled, this will enforce his view of coming to me when he believes I can help him."

"It won't work," Severus shook his head firmly.

"It must," Albus whispered, more to himself than anyone else. "Now, I already have Cornelius pestering me to allow more visitors into the Great Hall this evening for the sorting, so forgive me if I do not have time to deal with this right now."

Severus didn't even bother to reply to that, he simply span on his heels and stalked out of the office without even pausing to close the door behind him.

"Impossible," Albus whispered to himself, there was absolutely no way The Potters had survived, no, they couldn't have, he was certain of it.

He would proceed as planned, and everything would work out for the greater good of all. That was what was important.

* * *

**Hogwarts Express**  
**Travelling North of Cambridge**

Three hours in to the over eight hour long journey, and James and Amelia were both happily relaxing in their cabin with a book each, chatting amicably about their plans for the upcoming days.

Harry, Susan and Daphne had returned twice, once to inform them that Ron Weasley had tried to integrate himself with the group already, managing to insult both Susan and Daphne in the process, and a second time when they came asking for money to get some treats from the trolley cart.

"Yes?" Amelia called out, looking up from her book as she heard the carriage door slide open.

"My apologies, you're not students."

James did his best not to roll his eyes at the idiotic comment as he looked up, recognising the prefect in the carriage door on sight as a young fifth year Percy Weasley.

"Madame Bones, head of the DMLE, we're here escorting the train to make sure everything is on schedule." Amelia explained, holding up her golden shield and using the story she'd drummed up previously when talking to Cornelius and convincing him that it had been his idea to have an Auror escort on the train.

"I see," Percy nodded in an official manner. "I should have been informed however, I am a prefect."

"The DMLE doesn't run it's plans by Hogwarts prefects. The Minister authorised the arrangements himself." Amelia explained coldly, looking up at Percy with a stern look on her face. "Was there anything else?"

"No Madame Bones." Percy said quickly, adjusting his glasses before sliding the carriage door shut and walking away briskly.

"Was he always like that?" Amelia asked, looking towards James now for an explanation.

"He gets worse," James snorted, shaking his head. "He ended up working at The Ministry under Crouch, then up to being an assistant for Fudge." He explained with a shrug. "He's a pretentious little twat who only really cares about rules and regulations, give him a pile of paperwork to do and he's happier than a niffler in a pile of gold."

"Ambitious?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Dangerously," James nodded with a grunt. "No loyalty to anyone though, he turned on his family and friends, everyone. Not that he really had any friends in the first place anyway." He explained with a shrug. "Only really turned himself around when Voldemort attacked Hogwarts at the end, didn't even go to his own brother's wedding. I always wondered how he'd ended up in Gryffindor, he's definitely more of a Slytherin, same as the twins really, but at least they admitted to threatening to burn the sorting hat if it put them in Slytherin." He gave a snort of laughter at the memory of George explaining that to him over a bottle of firewhiskey one night.

"It doesn't sound like you had many good experiences with the Weasley family," Amelia commented, closing her book and looking at James properly now.

"Fifty fifty really." James admitted with a sigh. "Percy was a nightmare who sided with The Ministry when they started their little campaign against me. Ginny was a little fangirl who never got over her obsessions. Molly is a controlling shrew who screams and shouts every chance she gets. Ask around, her howlers to the Weasley's at Hogwarts are pretty much legendary by now." He explained with a shrug.

"Ron, well, you know the story there." James paused thoughtfully. "I got on with the twins well enough, when they opened their joke shop they were always welcoming and happy to chat." He explained. "Bill was alright, but I didn't get to spend much time with him, same with Charlie really."

"And Arthur?" Amelia prompted him.

"I got on alright with him, I wouldn't say I saw him enough after Hogwarts to be friendly, but he was willing to take me in when I needed it and took me to the Quidditch World Cup, I owe him for those things, but he always just stood aside whenever Molly was having one of her rants and just let her scream and shout at whoever she wanted to without saying a thing." James explained with a sigh. "He might be a good man, but he lets Molly get away with murder and doesn't care how it affects the rest of the family."

"Hmn," Amelia nodded, digesting that information and thinking it through. "You're certain Harry is going to be in Gryffindor again?"

"Pretty much," James shrugged, happy for the change in conversation. "I haven't changed that much, two months of living at the manor with me can't have made that much of a difference to him."

"I'm not so sure," Amelia frowned thoughtfully. "Ever since Susan and Harry started chatting, they've both spent more time with their noses in books than I ever remember seeing Susan doing before."

"You think they'll be Ravenclaws?" James asked, raising an eyebrow and snorting at the though. "Can't see it." He said with a dry chuckle.

"I'm just saying, don't be surprised." Amelia laughed back. "Two months worth of changes, you don't know what sort of ripple effect those changes had on other things."

"Like?" James asked curiously, adjusting himself around so Amelia could lean against his shoulder more comfortably.

"Sirius for example. You told me he's been writing to that friend of his, Remus?" Amelia pointed out. "But you also said, you didn't meet Sirius and Remus until your third year."

"So?" James paused, looking at Amelia with a curious expression.

"So, Harry is living with you. Sirius is free, Remus is likely to meet Harry two years sooner than he did before." Amelia pointed out. "Barty is in Azkaban, Couch Junior's been fed to the dementors, which throws off your entire Tri-Wizard Tournament year, and those are only the things you've affected directly." She explained. "Those changes will affect other changes, and so on."

"Which is going to be impossible to predict," James grimaced, realising what she was pointing out.

"We can assume that Voldemort is still possessing this Professor Quirrell, he still needs to have access to the Philosopher's Stone correct?" Amelia asked.

"I don't think I've changed anything that could change that," James muttered dubiously, trying to think through in his mind what had happened so far. "Dumbledore should have moved the stone to Hogwarts weeks ago anyway, just after my birthday I think, so things like Sirius being free and the major changes shouldn't have affected that."

"Lets hope so," Amelia breathed out, settling down against James for now as she tried to focus on the journey ahead.

"Yeah." James admitted to himself, leaning back in his chair and focusing on the battle to come.

* * *

Four compartments down, young Harry, Susan and Daphne were having the time of their lives away from their guardians and were more than happy to spent the journey chatting amongst themselves.

"Go on! I dare you!" Susan laughed, holding out a handful of Every-Flavour Beans.

Harry grimaced for a second before steeling himself and picking one of the beans at random before putting it into his mouth and chewing quickly, his face changing to surprise at first, then bemusement.

"What did you get?" Daphne demanded from her seat.

"Roast beef," Harry explained after swallowing the bean. "That was weird, not nasty or anything, but weird."

"I got a grass one once," Susan explained with a mock shudder. "My auntie swears she got a liver flavoured one."

"Eww!" Daphne hissed, shaking her head at that. "Your turn now." She laughed, pointing towards Susan.

"Fine," Susan nodded, picking one of the green beans and popping it into her mouth, chewing for a second before gagging and swallowing quickly. "Brussels sprouts!" She exclaimed, sticking her tongue out in disgust. "Your turn." She said, holding her hand out towards Daphne.

"Do I have to?" Daphne winced, trying to shuffle back from the handful of beans.

"Go on," Harry laughed back at the disgusted face Daphne was pulling.

"Fine, but I'm blaming you two if it's a bad one." Daphne said firmly, glaring at both of them as she slowly picked an orange coloured bean and dubiously nibbled at it. "Cheese." She said after a moment's contemplation, popping the rest of the bean into her mouth.

"That's not too bad," Susan admitted with a shrug. "It could have been worse, you could have got dirt, or..." She trailed off as the carriage door was pulled open, with three boys standing in the doorway looking at them.

"Is it true?" The blonde boy in the middle said with a sneer. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?" He demanded, looking across at Harry.

"Yes," Harry shrugged, looking at the blond boy and the two with him that reminded him of Dudley on his bad days.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," The blond boy introduced the two with him, indicating either side of him as he spoke. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." He explained. "Greengrass." He nodded, looking over to Daphne. "Well, you're making the right sort of friends at least, and who are you?" He asked, looking down to the other girl in the compartment.

"Susan Bones," Susan introduced herself quickly.

"Bones family, pure-blood, good." Draco nodded, looking back at Harry. "It's nice to see other people that know what sort of friends they should be making."

"We've been friends for a while," Susan looked up with a shrug.

"Well then, Greengrass, you'll be in Slytherin I assume, like the rest of your proper family." Draco nodded over. "You'll learn Potter, that Slytherin is where everyone important is going to be."

"I think I'll be in Gryffindor, like my parents." Harry said firmly. Remembering everything his older self had told him about Draco Malfoy. "Besides, how cunning is it to actually be sorted into a house where everyone thinks you're cunning anyway?" He asked with a small laugh. "Surely it's better to make friends everywhere?"

"Slytherin house isn't just about cunning Potter, you'd better remember that." Draco sneered. "Crabbe, Goyle, come." He ordered, turning around and stalking away from the carriage without even closing the doors behind him.

"Well, that happened." Harry laughed to himself, standing up and closing the carriage doors.

"You really think you'll be in Gryffindor?" Daphne asked in a quiet voice, looking over at Harry.

"Definitely," Harry nodded back. "Both my parents were, and my dad says I'm a sure thing for it." He explained with a grin, happy that his older self had imparted the knowledge of what was going to happen to him.

"I'll probably be in Slytherin, most of my family were," Daphne admitted with a dejected face. "But... that means we won't..."

"Hey, we'll still be friends," Harry shrugged.

"Of course we will," Susan spoke up, nodding eagerly. "It's not like you're turning into a Malfoy or anything." She explained with a laugh.

"But Slytherins are never friends with Gryffindors." Daphne explained, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Then we'll be the first," Harry grinned over. "I'm not letting a coloured robe tell me who I can and can't be friends with. That's just stupid. Besides, my dad said he had friends in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw when he was in school, so it doesn't bother me at all."

"Hear hear!" Susan smiled in agreement. "Besides, I'm going to be a Hufflepuff like my mum and aunt, I know it." She smiled broadly. "So I'll be friends with both of you no matter what."

"Hufflepuff loyalty at it's best," Daphne smiled, thankful that both Susan and Harry weren't going to disown their friendship if she ended up in Slytherin.

"And proud!" Susan smiled again. "Besides, Harry's practically family now, we've got to stick together."

Daphne laughed at that, shaking her head in amusement at how Harry got a feint blush on his face. All three of them knew Harry's dad and Susan's aunt were kissing and dating, as far as they were concerned, it was only a matter of time before there was a marriage, then Harry and Susan would be brother and sister for real.

"Besides, we're only at Hogwarts for seven years, after that, who's going to care what house we were in back then?" Harry shrugged, leaning back on his chair to get comfortable.

"I suppose," Daphne had to nod in agreement with that, being only friends with people in Slytherin would limit her possible connections in the school by three quarters of the population, if everyone carried on like that after school, then it would be impossible for their society to function.

"It's just coloured robes and a tie, it doesn't mean anything." Harry shrugged.

"And quidditch," Susan pointed out.

"Quidditch is something else entirely," Harry grinned back. "I can't wait to play."

"You're going to try out?" Daphne asked with a surprised look on her face. "First years never make the house teams."

"He's really good though," Susan sighed. "But I kind of hope you don't, just so Hufflepuff has chance to win something." She explained with a small laugh.

"Really good?" Daphne asked curiously, looking to Susan now.

"Really really good." Susan confirmed. "He's got his own Nimbus broom and everything."

"Wow!" Daphne breathed out, looking at Harry in a new light now.

Harry just shrugged at that, happy to laze back in his chair and enjoy the journey while the girls chatted about various quidditch teams and which they supported over the others, leaving him to happily enjoy the friendships he was building and to look forward to what this new life was going to be like.

* * *

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

James looked up at the announcement, stretching slightly in the seat from where he'd been happily dozing the journey away. "We're there?" He asked as he arched his back, feeling it click from sitting in the same position for too long.

"Soon," Amelia nodded, standing up from where she'd been lazing against James and stretching herself. The train ride had been blessedly boring, with only a few interruptions here and there, most of the students seemed to look through the door window, see that they weren't students, and leave them alone.

"I swear that took longer than it ever used to." James groaned, standing up and trying to work the kinks out of his muscles.

"About eight hours, that sounds about right to me." Amelia commented, retrieving her pocket watch and checking the time. "It's nearly seven, so just under eight hours."

"Felt much longer," James admitted with a sigh as the carriage door was pulled open, letting Harry, Susan and Daphne enter. "Hey you three."

"We need our robes," Susan explained their presence.

"Of course," Amelia smiled, reaching for Susan's trunk and bringing out the top set of robes for her to take.

"I forgot about that," James admitted, reaching for Harry's trunk and lifting it down for him. "Need yours too Daphne?"

"Please Mr Potter." Daphne smiled over at him.

James nodded back, happily lifting her trunk down to she could retrieve her own robes from inside. "Had a good time then?" He asked, looking around to his younger self. "Meet everyone?"

"We had the pleasure of Draco Malfoy's company," Susan explained with a small glance to her auntie.

"Oh I can guess how that went," James chuckled to himself as Harry and the two girls slipped their robes over their clothes. "Anyone else?"

"Hannah came by for a bit," Susan explained.

"And we met Hermione, she was really bossy though." Harry explained, wrinkling his nose. "She came with Neville looking for a toad."

"She's probably just stressed, it's a first day towards school and unlike you three, she hasn't got any friends with her to help her out." James explained. Knowing the truth from being friends with Hermione for so long. "Give her a chance, all the muggle-borns are getting thrown in at the deep end, you should all help them out if you can."

"Alright," Harry nodded, seeing what his older self was saying. It was a bit weird when he found out about all this magic stuff, and he had his older self to show him through it all and help him out, he couldn't imagine how it would have been if he'd only had the Dursley's to talk about it with.

It was only moments later when the train slowly pulled into Hogsmeade station, and everyone piled off with excited chatter around the groups of first year students who were looking around in awe at their first glimpses of Hogsmeade Station.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!"

"Hagrid," James grimaced, shaking his head as he remembered. "I forgot Hagrid took the first year students across the lake, I hadn't..."

"Bloody nora, James, tha' can't be... James Potter?"

"Hi Hagrid," James winced, turning to the side to face Hagrid properly, facing his first test of living the James Potter lie.

"It bloody well is, James, fer cryin' out loud, what 'appened to you?" Hagrid demanded, pushing his way towards James and completely ignoring the crowd that was building up around them,.

"It's... it's a long story Hagrid." James admitted with a sigh.

"An' this mus' be Harry!" Hagrid beamed down to where Harry was staring up at him in awe.

"Dad?" Harry whispered, never taking his eyes off of Hagrid.

"Hagrid's good people Harry," James laughed. "As long as you stay away from his cakes, you'll chip a tooth on those things."

"Minerva never lets me forget that one," Hagrid shouted, his laugh booming around the station. "Blimey James, never thought I'd see you again! Not aft'r... well, ain't somethin' to talk about now."

"Right," James nodded, happy that Hagrid's naive outlook and innocence was actually working well for him for once. He'd have to buy the man a bottle of whiskey or something as an apology for taking advantage of his nature like this.

"Madame Bones, DMLE." Amelia introduced herself. "We'll be travelling with the first year students towards the castle."

"Right ye are," Hagrid smiled, happy to have the company. "'C'mon, follow me! Any more firs' years?" He called out, waving his lantern around to make sure all the first year students were gathering around him.

Nodding to Harry, Susan and Daphne, gesturing for them to go ahead, James and Amelia hung back from the crowd to follow on behind while the first year students eagerly followed Hagrid out of the station and down towards the lake. Technically it was so they could speak quietly between themselves, but if anyone asked, hanging back to make sure nobody got separated or left behind was a more than suitable excuse.

"That went well then?" Amelia whispered in a half question, half statement fashion.

"Kinda," James admitted with a grimace. "I feel kind of bad actually, Hagrid's like a kid at the best of times, he can't help it, he's just that sort of trusting guy. He doesn't have a suspicious bone in his body."

Amelia nodded at that, understanding why James would feel bad about taking advantage of someone like that.

It didn't take them long to make their way down to the boats and then across the lake, with the expected "oohhhh's" and "ahhhhhh's" coming from the various boats when the students got their first view of Hogwarts castle.

"I remember that view, the first time I saw it." James admitted quietly, sitting in the boat alongside Amelia on their own. "It felt like home, a sanctuary away from everything else in my life." He admitted with a sigh. "I couldn't even tell you when it stopped being home, and when it turned into just another place." He whispered, looking over to Harry's boat and noticing the look of awe and wonder on his face.

"During the war? After?" Amelia asked.

"Somewhere between," James said with a sigh. "It stopped being a sanctuary when people like Snape and Umbridge and the Death Eaters took over. They took something from us all when they took the castle, and we never got it back."

"You'll be able to stop that from happening this time though, these children won't loose their school like you did." Amelia smiled comfortingly towards him.

James nodded back, making a silent vow that he'd stop the same thing from happening to his younger self no matter what the cost, he'd make sure his younger self kept the magic in Hogwarts that he'd lost somewhere along the way.

As the boats reached the other side of the lake they passed through to the underground harbour where they slowly docked against the stone carved platforms that held the boats steady.

James and Amelia watched quietly as Hagrid helped the students out of the boats, finding Neville's lost toad in the process, before he started to lead them up the castle steps towards the gigantic door of the great hall.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid boomed out, looking around the gathered first year students to make sure he hadn't lost anyone, looking back to James and Amelia last and then smiling when James nodded approvingly towards him.

"Right then," Hagrid nodded to himself, turning around and banging on the giant door three times, the noise echoing in the dark evening like thunder in the air.

The doors swung open practically immediately, and James couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips as Minerva came to stand in the doorway in her customary emerald green robes.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said with a wide smile.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." Minerva nodded, looking around the gathered first years, her face dropping from it's usual stoic mask when she saw James and Amelia, the shock evident on her face for a brief second before she narrowed her eyes. "With me." She ordered, turning on her heels and marching forward into the castle with the first year students following her.

"I feel like I've already got detention, and I graduated seventeen years ago." Amelia whispered as they followed the group of first years through the entrance hall to the small chamber to one side.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall said firmly, making sure every one of the first year students was paying attention to her. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses."

"Final chance to change your bet. I'll put a sickle on them both in Ravenclaw." Amelia whispered from her position by the door to James.

"Gryffindor and Hufflepuff." James whispered back as Professor McGonagall continued to explain the various houses and how the school points system worked.

"Winner cooks dinner tonight?" Amelia countered.

"Deal." James whispered back.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Professor McGonagall finished, looking around the first year students as a few of them started fiddling with their robes and straightening up their clothes. "You two, follow me." She hissed out as she passed James and Amelia, storming out of the side chamber.

"Here we go," James sighed, following Minerva away from the first year students and down the corridor enough so they couldn't be heard.

They were barely ten feet away from the side chamber when Minerva stopped in the corridor suddenly, spinning around with her wand already in her hand and pointing dangerously at James. "Who are you?"

"James Potter." Amelia said firmly.

"James Potter is dead." Minerva hissed out. "Who are you?" She demanded again.

"Lets just make this simpler, what do I have to do to prove to you I'm James Potter?" James asked, cocking an eyebrow as he made the challenge. It was a risk, and Minerva certainly knew a lot about his parents, but over the years she'd shared a lot of those stories with Harry, so he felt that taking this risk would be the quickest way to convince her.

"Your Patronus?" Minerva asked.

"Stag." James countered easily enough.

"Who was your best man?" Minerva asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Sirius Black, he's at my place currently if you'd like to know." James answered easily enough.

"The two other friends you made?" Minerva asked.

"Remus Lupin and... Pettigrew the betrayer." James said, narrowing his eyes. "I could also tell you where Potter Manor is under a Fidelius, that your animagus form is a cat. How Hagrid kidnapped Harry from Sirius under Albus' orders, or why you were there at Privet Drive with Dumbledore that same night." He rattled off with a firm voice, causing Minerva to stumble back slightly.

"James?" Minerva whispered, firing several quick negating charms and finite's towards him, then staring at him in surprise when nothing changed.

"We'll talk later, this is Harry's day." James said with a small smile.

"Susan's too," Amelia broke in with a small smile. "Good to see you again as well Minerva."

"Amelia," Minerva nodded briskly towards Amelia, regaining her composure somewhat after being faced with the ghost of her best student. "Very well, wait with the students, I will return momentarily." She indicated before marching away.

"That could have gone better," Amelia chuckled over as she watched Minerva stalk away and head into one of the offices.

"It could have gone worse," James admitted, leading the way back towards the chamber where the first year students were waiting, all currently talking amongst themselves and to the various ghosts that had appeared and were welcoming them to the school.

"Follow me students. The Sorting Ceremony is about to start." Minerva called out, pulling everyone's attention to the door where they filed out towards her, leaving James and Amelia stood on either side of the doorway to follow on behind her.

"Here we go," James whispered as he watched the main doors to the Great Hall open for Professor McGonagall to lead the new students through inside.

"Good luck." Amelia whispered back to him, giving his hand a brief squeeze before they separated an followed the students in at the rear.

James' eyes narrowed as soon as he walked into the great hall, seeing Severus Snape sat at the staff table was something he hadn't prepared himself for, but seeing him sat there along with Albus Dumbledore and Professor Quirrell was enough to make him clench his jaw in anger as the memories of his first year at Hogwarts came flooding back.

That anger turned to steel when he saw Snape and Dumbledore's faces drop when they noticed him, both turning pale when they saw the anger on his face as he stalked into the great hall behind the first year students with the department head of the DMLE alongside him.

'Well, shall we?' James smirked to himself as he steeled himself for the opening gambits of what was quite literally the game of his life.


	10. Chapter 10

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**  
**Highlands of Scotland**  
**Scotland**

If asked, James wouldn't have been able to tell you a single word of what the Sorting Hat sung in it's welcoming song.

His attention wasn't on the hat, on the various students, or even on Minerva anymore. It was on the three people at the staff table at the end of the hall, all three of them staring at him with ashen faces and horrified expressions.

He knew Minerva had seen it as well, she'd looked between him and Dumbledore a few times, then had set her jaw and given Dumbledore one her patented 'Explain yourself' glares that could have peeled the varnish from the staff table.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," Minerva announced, breaking the awkward silence that fell after the sorting hat finished singing. "Abbott, Hannah!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Bones, Susan." Minerva called out as Hannah dashed off to the table with the rest of the students in yellow and black.

"Hufflepuff!"

Susan jumped off and ran after her friend, leaving Harry a happy smile as she joined the Hufflepuff table to sit down.

James was only vaguely concerned with the sorting however, he was making sure not to make eye contact with any of the three at the table, but staring at their noses and foreheads every time he switched his attention between the three.

From his position behind the first year students, he could make out the various whispers coming from around the hall, coming loudest from the area to the side of the staff table where Minister Fudge was sat with the various reporters from the Wizarding Wireless Network, all talking amongst themselves in hushed whispers as for the first time the sorting ceremony was broadcast live to radios all over the country.

James simply continued to stare down at the staff table as the various first year students whittled down. Hermione went to Gryffindor, Daphne went to Slytherin, Neville went to Gryffindor... and so it went on.

"Potter, Harry."

James allowed his concentration to flicker as he finally looked away from the staff table to watch his younger self step forward and sit on the rickety old chair as Minerva proudly placed the sorting hat down over his messy hair.

As the silence continued, James shared a brief shared glance with Minerva as their eyes met, he could see she was proud of his younger self for some reason, but was equally demanding answers from him.

The silence stretched on and James flicked his eyes down to where his younger self seemed to be whispering under the hat, arguing with it about something. Had it taken this long last time? He could barely remember. He remembered arguing not to go into Slytherin, but it hadn't felt like it had taken this long before.

"Hufflepuff!"

James blinked at that announcement as Minerva took the hat off of his younger self, watching as the robes and tie glittered with magic for a moment before the yellows and blacks washed down like they were poured onto him from above.

Harry actually looked just as shocked as he was, but seemingly not surprised or angry, if anything, he actually looked happy with the yellow striped robes and what they represented to him.

'That's new' He thought to himself, cocking his head to the side in thought as he watched his younger self run off to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Had things changed that much already? Had Harry changed that much? From a lion into a badger?

The Hufflepuff table erupted into applause as Harry came to sit down next to Susan, all three of the other tables looking across at Hufflepuff for the first time with a mixture of jealousy and questioning.

"We didn't get Potter?"

James resisted the urge to snort out a bout of laughter as he heard the despondent question from the Weasley Twins at the Gryffindor table.

Lisa Turpin was the next to be sorted, as James turned his attention back to the staff table where both Dumbledore and Snape had rather curious expressions on their faces, and seemed torn between paying attention to him, or paying attention to his younger self at the Hufflepuff table.

Ron went into Gryffindor just as before, and Blaise Zabini headed to the Slytherin tables, suddenly leaving only James and Amelia stood in the middle of the great hall, with Minerva looking between them and then back to the staff table.

"It would seem, that both of you are rather too old to be sorted I'm afraid." Albus announced, standing up slowly from his seat at the staff table, his comment drawing a few chuckles from around the room as James stepped forwards and narrowed his eye towards him. "And who might you be?" He asked, staring down and doing his best to catch the faux-James' eyes with his own.

"You know who I am." James said firmly. Setting his jaw as he stared up towards the staff table.

"I'm afraid you have me at a loss," Albus said quietly, moving around the staff table to come and stand at the front of the raised area at the front of the hall. "Because, what is certain, is that you are not James Potter."

"Is that certain?" James asked, raising an eyebrow and allowing a ghost of a smirk to tug at his lips. "Maybe I should ask for my invisibility cloak back? Would that help?" He asked, taking a small amount of enjoyment out of the way Dumbledore blanched even further at that. "Or maybe I should ask how you got the key to Harry's trust vault? Though, that hardly matters anymore, as I've secured the Potter vaults with blood, so only me and him can access them now." He explained bluntly.

"You are NOT James Potter." Albus said firmly, stepping forwards until he was practically on the edge of the raised platform.

"This says I am," James bit out just as firmly, pulling the auror badge off of his belt and tossing it towards Dumbledore, smirking when he used a silent accio charm to summon it mid air before snatching it into his hands. "Perhaps instead I should talk about The Prophecy, and..." He had to raise his voice as Dumbledore started talking to try and shut him up, then ended up shouting over Dumbledore. "And how Snape overheard it and went running to Voldemort to tell him all about it."

Both Snape and Dumbledore were completely white now and were staring at him in shock, to Minister Fudge's credit, he hadn't interrupted once and was simply staring at the two as if trying to decide which of them would earn him the most voters.

"Albus?" Minerva whispered, turning her full attention back towards the staff table now.

"You can't be James Potter." Dumbledore bit out, almost pleading with it not to be true as he pulled out The Elder Wand and levied it towards the faux-James. "You are not James Potter!" He shouted, casting a wave of cascading white energy out towards his target.

"You keep saying that," James smirked as he deflected the magic upwards to the enchanted ceiling with ease, his own reflexes far beyond what a wizard of Albus Dumbledore's advanced age could perform.

"Albus, what are you doing?" Minerva hissed out, backing away so she wouldn't be between the two in a duel.

"What I must," Albus said aloud as he cast again, this time an aqua blue stream of magic shot from The Elder Wand, only for the faux-James to meet it head on with his wand and negate it entirely. "You are the one who took young Harry from his relatives?"

"You mean the muggles who kept him locked in a cupboard under the stairs and barely fed him?" James bit out, ignoring the whispers that broke around around the hall at that declaration. "Oh, and your squib spy, Mrs Figg? I should stop by and say hello to her again, it's been a few years since I last saw her." He explained with a small smirk. "She was the one telling you all about how Harry was treated right? Passing on the stories about how the Dursley's starved him, how his Aunt Marge had her dogs chasing him up trees while Petunia and Vernon watched and laughed?"

"Noo!" Albus shouted, sending three curses in quick succession towards the faux-James, all three of which he batted up into the enchanted ceiling with seemingly no effort at all.

"Really, in front of all your students, and The Minister, live on the Wizarding Wireless as well." James chuckled when he saw Albus flick his attention over to where the reporters were all watching with rapt attention. "Is there something you didn't want them to know?" He asked with a smirk, stepping forwards towards the staff platform dangerously. "Maybe the fact that there's a Prophecy about Harry and Voldemort? Or about how you were keeping Harry in the dark all these years just so you could convince him to face Voldemort in an act of suicide for your plans of the greater good?"

"What is it you want?" Albus bit out, lowering his wand slightly as he realised how bad this was looking to everyone that was watching.

"Me? I'd like the last god knows how many years of my life back." James bit out. "I'd like to know why you stole Harry from his rightful guardian Sirius Black, then let him rot in prison. I'd like to know why you dropped Harry off on a muggle doorstep in the middle of a freezing cold November night, without a warming charm, a security charm, or even knocking on the door to announce your presence?" James hissed, reaching the front of the hall and glaring up towards Dumbledore.

"I'd like to know why you're so intent on manipulating Harry's life, that you think you have any god damned right to do any of the things you've done?"

"I..." Albus winced, flicking his wand down in various complicated detection charms that washed over the faux-James like water off of Gryffindor tower.

"Polyjuice detection, glamour detection, transfiguration detection," James ticked off as Albus continued to cast futilely towards him, his own wand at the ready to strike at any moment. "Any more?" He drawled out, narrowing his eyes towards Dumbledore.

"James?" Albus whispered, unable to deny that his detection charms hadn't revealed a single thing wrong about the faux-James in front of him.

"Well?" James demanded, climbing up onto the staff platform with a quick jump up, keeping his eyes on Dumbledore all the time. "The hall is waiting, the reporters are listening, the world wants to know." He demanded. "What explanation have you got."

"What I have done, I did for..."

"Ah," James interrupted, holding his hand up. "If you are about to say you kidnapped Harry and abandoned him on a muggle doorstep to freeze to death, for the greater good?" He bit out, stepping forwards so he was directly in Dumbledore's face. "I will curse you so far into next week that even a time turner won't help you get back." He hissed out finally.

"James, everything I have done was for the good of..."

James shook his head, turning away from Dumbledore before lashing out with his fast, connecting with Dumbledore's face and sending him crashing to the ground, to the sounds of gasps and shrieks coming from the students in the hall.

A silent accio charm wrenched the Elder Wand from his grasp and into the air, where James easily caught it.

"You don't know what you've done!" Albus hissed out, glaring up from the ground in disbelief at loosing the Elder Wand.

"I know exactly what I've done," James glared down. "It's a Peverell family wand, after all. A Potter family wand." He whispered with a smirk so only Dumbledore could hear him. "Now, who else do we have here." He grinned, turning around to look at the staff table, noting with no real surprise that Snape had already slithered away and vanished from the staff table during his confrontation with Albus. "Well, it looks like Snape had somewhere better to be." He said with a small smirk towards Snape's empty seat. "What a shame." He grinned sarcastically as he turned to look around at the rest of the teachers.

"Mr... ahem, Mr Potter?"

James flicked his attention to the side, recognising Cornelius Fudge's self-important bluster immediately. "One moment Minister, this won't take long." He said aloud, walking down the staff table and meeting everyone's gaze, from the shocked faces of Aurora Sinestra through to Filius Flitwick and Septima Vector, until he reached Professor Quirrell and stopped in front of him, smirking across the table at him.

"James Potter." Professor Quirrell smiled at he stood up, all stutter and nervous disposition gone from his stance. "You know, I believed you were dead."

"The same way the world believed you were dead?" James asked, pausing for a beat before continuing. "Tom?"

Quirrell narrowed his eyes at that as he stalked around the table to come and stand at the far end of the raised platform. "So, you know then?"

"It was hardly difficult to work out," James drawled out. "The Philosopher's Stone I assume?" He asked, feigning ignorance for a moment.

"Of course," Quirrell smiled with a small bow. "I must admit, I am surprised." He announced in a soft tone. "We had thought you just an annoyance, an obstacle to be overcome. I listened to Severus when he belittled your skills and knowledge, he never spoke of you as having any real power. I had never looked upon you as a worthy adversary before."

"Things change." James said firmly, taking a few steps towards him.

"Yes, yes they do." Quirrell sighed, bringing out his own wand. "I am surprised however at the ease in which you dispatched your old mentor. I didn't think you had it in you."

"You never know until you've been tested." James said firmly, raising his wand.

"That night, he killed you, I know he did." Quirrell said, cocking his head to the side. "How did you survive?"

"The same way Harry survived." James smirked, telling the complete truth and seeing the puzzlement on Quirrell's face as he struggled with the conundrum.

"You're telling the truth," Quirrell frowned. "You survived that night."

James just smirked, holding out his arms to say 'here I am'.

"You could join us." Quirrell blustered. "The Potter family have a long and illustrious lineage, your pure blood would see you as a prince in our court. Your only failure was your mudblood whore, and even she could be forgiven given her power."

"The fact you're even offering that to me shows you know absolutely nothing about me." James said firmly, watching out of the corner of his eye as Amelia started casting protective shields around the front of the hall to prevent any students getting hurt, while Minerva noticed what she was doing and started to hustle students away from the front of the hall.

"Yes, I noticed your little helpers." Quirrell waved off the distraction with disinterest. "A teacher and an Auror? Neither are in any position to help you."

"I don't need their help." James declared with a set jaw. "After all, Voldemort, this won't be the first time we've fought."

At that name, the hall broke into panic, with all four tables scattering to the rear of the hall and running into the various corridors that led away. Even the teachers left at the front of the hall instinctively moved away from the staff table, leaving James and Quirrell facing each other, with Dumbledore still laying on the ground and watching in disbelief.

"You dare say that name?" Quirrell demanded.

"Sorry," James smirked over. "You prefer Tom Riddle then?" He grinned, spotting the exact moment when Quirrell raised his wand and falling into his own offensive stance, transfiguring a block of ice in the air in front of him automatically as Quirrell snapped off the killing curse, shattering the ice and sending it raining down all over the hall.

Stepping back James quickly went on the offensive, casting blasting curses and disarming charms, linked with transfigurations and elemental summoning to surround Quirrell with blasts of ice and freezing winds.

"Impressive," Quirrell sneered out, flicking away the various curses and charms with ease as he stepped out of the freezing ice and banished it away with a wave of his wand.

Turning his attention back to James he instantly had his wand up when James Potter was nowhere in sight, the various idiotic teachers were cowering away from him, while The Minister and various reporters had half fled to the edge of the hall and certainly looked like they'd soiled their robes during the short confrontation.

"Potter?" Quirrell hissed out, glaring around the hall in an attempt to find his quarry. He took note of everything, the various students that were hiding at the far end of the hall with McGonagall and Bones standing between him and them. The way Dumbledore had stayed on the floor and hadn't even spoken up or helped during the duel at all. The way the other Hogwarts teachers had protected each other and left Potter to duel with honour.

"Tom,"

Spinning around he had his wand up instantly, but didn't expect the fist that forcefully crashed into his face, staggering him back more than a few steps in the process as pain flooded through his face and started to radiate out to around his skull then down his neck.

"You never did pay attention," James smirked as he launched another punch, this one caving straight through Quirrell's face, collapsing it in on itself with black flakes of decayed skin and bone falling around his fist on the way to the floor.

James simply watched as Quirrell's body turned to ash, his clothes falling to the floor in seconds, collapsing his decaying body to dust under the weight of his robes, leaving only a sickly black spectre hanging where Quirrell's body had been.

"Now Voldemort, shall we talk without your puppet." James said aloud, shaking off his hand to dust off the remnants of Quirrell's decomposing face from his hand and wrist.

The wraith simply shrieked, diving around the room with furious anger as it swooped overhead of everyone before coming to hang in the middle of the great hall and seemingly glare down at him.

"I will not forget thissss... Jamessss Potter!" The spectre hissed out.

"Get out of this school you demented half-blood!" James demanded, raising his wand towards the spectre and narrowing his eyes.

"You dare!" The spectre hissed down.

"Of course I dare, I'm a Potter." James grinned back. "What? Didn't want all your sycophants to know the truth, that their precious Dark Lord was really a half-blood that was simply using their bigotry rise up so he could punish people like his muggle father?"

"You cannot defeat me Potter!" The spectre shouted defiantly as it hung silently in the great hall with everyone watching. "I will return."

"I'll be here." James promised.

The spectre shrieked at that, swirling around the hall again until it dove to the main doors, passing through them like a ghost and vanishing into the night.

A few quick casts of detection charms later and James was certain the spectre had gone, he retrieved the Auror badge from where Dumbledore had dropped it before he happily jumped down from the staff table and made his way over to where Amelia had been guarding some first year students, standing in front of Harry and Susan in particular.

"That was fun." He smirked as he walked over, pocketing Dumbledore's Elder Wand for now but keeping his own in his hand in case anyone did anything stupid.

"Fun?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow towards him. "You very nearly took twenty years off my life with that stunt." She hissed out.

"James?"

Turning around he saw Minerva slowly making her way over, Minister Fudge a few steps behind her and looking around the hall with terrified eyes as if expecting the spectre to return at any moment.

"Minerva," James smiled back, giving her a wink and a small grin before he turned his attention back to Amelia and then to Harry. "Hey mini-me." He grinned, kneeling down so he could look over at the younger version of himself.

"Hey old man," Harry grinned back. "The evil wizard didn't look that tough to me." He said with a wide grin that looked like it was going to split his face in half. "Darth Vader was a scarier Dark Lord than he was."

"Don't you start too," Amelia groaned, looking down at Harry who had an identical grin on his face to match James.

"That... he..." Minister Fudge whispered as he approached with Minerva and the press. "He's back!" He hissed out.

"Voldemort, yes." James rolled his eyes, nodding slowly before standing back up. "Dumbledore actually hired him to teach the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, whether he knew Voldemort was possessing that body or not, well..." He trailed off with a shrug. "He still had all those traps made around the Philosophers Stone then?" He asked, looking to Minerva.

"How on earth do you..." Minerva trailed off, shaking her head. "Indeed James, I was rather proud of that chess set I'll have you know." She explained with a frustrated sigh.

"Traps, he was using the stone as bait to lure Voldemort to the school." James explained, turning to the staff table where Dumbledore was slowly climbing to his feet and clearly struggling to understand what had happened this evening.

"I'll have him out of this school before the end of the night!" Minister Fudge barked out.

"Probably a good idea," James nodded. "If not, the next time we cross wands, I'll end up killing the old fool." He said with a grimace, glaring back down the hall towards the staff table. "I noticed Snape ran as soon as he realised who I was."

"Hardly a surprise given your history." Minerva nodded with a small smirk. "I somehow doubt we will be seeing Severus return to these halls any time soon. You have created a rather large amount of work for me in a small amount of time, you are aware of this?" She asked, fixing James with a glare.

"Well, yes, of course." Minister Fudge blustered quickly. "I'll have The Governors ratify your lead to take over the school as soon as I return to The Ministry." He stated, nodding to himself before flicking his attention to James to make sure that was what he wanted. "You... you don't want the position for yourself I take it?"

"God no," James snorted, shaking his head at the very idea of becoming a headmaster.

"Merlin help us," Minerva muttered at the nightmarish mental images that that offer conjured up.

"Cornelius, there are things..." Dumbledore started as he clambered down from the staff table area, hurrying down the hall towards where James, Cornelius, Minerva and Amelia were stood talking.

"Oh do shut up Albus!" Minerva hissed out, silencing him quite effectively. "If you require my memories of the night Albus abandoned young Harry on that muggle doorstep, you shall have them Amelia." She said with a small bow towards Amelia. "I only hope you can forgive me for my actions that night James."

"I know what happened," James nodded, looking at Minerva with a forgiving smile. "I forgave you long ago, I know how you tried to tell him how bad the Dursley's were, but I never forgave him." He said with a hiss, turning his attention back to Dumbledore.

"James, surely..." Albus started.

"No." James bit out, cutting Albus off. "The next time I see you, we will be trading spells, and I won't be simply shielding that time." He explained, fixing Dumbledore with a glare.

"Indeed," Cornelius blustered, puffing himself up as he jostled to stand beside James Potter proudly. "Using the school as a trap for You-Know-Who? Luring a mass murder here with all these innocent children? Hiring You-Know-Who as a teacher? For crying out loud Albus, what sort of institution is this?" He demanded. "I'll be calling for an immediate meeting of the school governors, if your resignation isn't tendered immediately, you can expect to be fired first thing tomorrow morning."

"Cornelius, I'm sure that I don't..."

"Get out Dumbledore." James said firmly, standing strong and crossing his arms over his chest as Harry came and stood by the other side of Cornelius, both of them framed by Amelia and Minerva, all of who were now staring at Dumbledore with thinly veiled anger and disgust.

"James, everything I have done I did for..."

"Out!" James barked, cutting Dumbledore off sharply.

"My wand perhaps?" Albus asked hopefully.

"You mean my family's wand?" James countered, raising his eyebrow. "I know the truth, don't try to deny it." He said with a frown. "After all, that's why you were so interested in the cloak, wasn't it?"

Dumbledore didn't answer that, instead simply looking away from James' glare, only to find the same glare coming from Amelia and Minerva.

"I do believe it is time you left Albus." Minerva said firmly.

"Yes, I believe so." Albus admitted softly. "When you need me, I shall..."

"We won't." James said firmly. "You'd better hope Sirius doesn't catch up to you first either. He's got a rather long list of grudges against you now, and his stint in Azkaban hasn't helped his temper."

"I see," Albus nodded, accepting that he deserved that and likely so much more.

"Goodbye Albus, don't let the doors prevent you from leaving." Amelia said, stepping aside to allow a path through to the main doors of the great hall. As she stepped aside the students followed suit, all willing to stand by the woman who stood between them and You-Know-Who.

Albus simply walked forwards in silence, moving through the students who refused to look at him, until he reached the great doors and pushed them open before walking out into the cold night air.

"I... I should return to The Ministry, lots to do you know, especially with... well..." Cornelius blustered, his eyes flicking between James, Harry and the open doors.

"Raise the Auror budget, we'll need them with Voldemort back." James said with a firm nod.

"Yes, yes, obviously." Cornelius practically fell over himself in agreement. "Yes, of course, I'll have the papers sent down to you in the morning Amelia."

"Graciously appreciated Minister." Amelia nodded, successfully hiding the smirk that threatened to tug at her lips.

"Well, yes, must go, can't dilly dally around here all day." Cornelius muttered quickly. "Yes, best go. The floo entrance, it's still available I assume."

"I will show you through," Minerva smiled, nodding towards Cornelius before gesturing for him to follow her. "I assume the students are safe left in your care for this short period James?"

"Yeah yeah," James muttered, waving his hand towards her with a small smirk as he headed over to one of the tables and leaned against it, practically sitting on it as he got comfortable. "So... Hufflepuff?" He asked with a grin, looking to Harry's yellow and black trimmed robes.

"You're not disappointed?" Harry asked quietly.

"Nah," James smiled, shaking his head. "Amelia was sure you'd make Ravenclaw though." He explained.

"The hat said I was brave enough for Gryffindor, but my loyalty was my strongest trait." Harry said with a thoughtful smile as Susan came to stand alongside him. "It also said I could be great in Slytherin, but wasn't sure the house would survive me."

"Hmn," James laughed at that, scratching his stubble idly as he thought about it. Loyalty was something he's always prized, and more than a few times in the past he'd been praised for his loyalty as well, maybe Hufflepuff wasn't as much of a stretch as he thought.

"Well, I certainly never expected to find a Potter in my den."

"Pomona," James chuckled, recognising the voice of Neville's old mentor coming up behind him.

"I'll look after him, don't you worry about that." Pomona smiled over. "Her too." She said, nodding to Amelia and Susan.

"I think they'll be fine," James grinned, watching as Harry and Susan snuck off to one side to check on Daphne and Hannah, a lot of the other students following with them and grouping around them to listen in.

"James, is that... it can't be though... is it?"

"Filius," James chuckled to himself. "Sorry about the duel in front of you, I didn't want to risk him getting away before I could deal with him."

"Yes, yes, quite." Filius nodded as he hobbled over. "Quite the selection of charms there, most impressive, most most impressive. Elemental conjuring as well? Rather ingenious."

"I try," James chuckled to himself as he spotted Minerva coming back into the great hall, this time thankfully without the reporters and Minister.

"Must you create chaos and drama wherever you go?" Minerva hissed as she came over to join the discussion. "That entire thing was broadcast live across the entire Wizarding Wireless Network you know."

"Really?" James smirked up, looking at Minerva before flicking his eyes to Amelia. "Well, imagine that." He grinned, his eyes telling Minerva that he knew exactly that, and that he'd probably actually planned it that way.

"Chaos, drama and a good degree of luck I'd say." Filius chuckled. "If ever there was more proof of your identity, I'd say we have it there."

"Quite," Minerva frowned thoughtfully. "Given tonight's spectacle, you'll forgive me if I'm rather glad young Harry found himself a home with the Badgers. I'm not entirely sure I could survive another seven years of that drama."

James snorted at that, shaking his head in amusement at Minerva's exasperated expression.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that Minerva," Amelia chuckled. "After all, if you're taking Albus' position, then..."

"Then I'll need someone to take over transfiguration AND Gryffindor house." Minerva sighed, turning back to James and glaring at him again. "Two heads of houses, three subjects without professors, and the deputy position to fill as well?" She demanded. "And that's not even accounting for the courses Albus taught when it was needed, like his NEWT Alchemy course, which thankfully isn't running this year."

"You know, I think that might be a personal best," James smirked, ruffling his hair in amusement at how things had turned out.

"Indubitably." Minerva sighed in frustration. "I will inform the school elves to deliver the feast to the separate common rooms, there seems little point in trying to corral them all back into the great hall after the events of tonight. If you both inform your prefects to start taking the students down to their houses. I will have to find someone to take care of Slytherin house."

Pomona and Filius both nodded at this, quickly moving off to gather up their Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws from around the great hall and heard them together towards the older students and prefects, while Minerva headed off to find Septima and talk with her about the Slytherin population of the school.

"That actually went better than I expected." Amelia whispered to James once Minerva, Pomona and Filius had moved off.

"Fifty fifty," James shrugged with a small grin. "I'll admit, I'm actually disappointed Snape ran off before I had chance to confront him. I had quite a bit I wanted to say to him that I never got chance to before."

"The consummate Slytherin, he saw the odds were against him so he retreated to fight another day." Amelia sighed in agreement.

"Hmm," James smiled.

"Will you both be staying for the welcoming feast?" Pomona asked, waddling back over to James and Amelia as the Hufflepuff prefects took the new students out of the great hall to follow the rest of the Badgers downstairs. "I know it won't be quite the same as the great hall or the Gryffindor tower, but our den is quite the comfortable spot Mr Potter."

"Call me James," James grinned, holding his hand out to Pomona, feeling a bit strange introducing himself under a different name when he'd known the herbology professor for so long now. "I'd love to." He said with a wide smile.

"Of course Pomona," Amelia chuckled. "It will be rather nice to see the old common room again." She admitted as James stood up from where he'd been sitting against the Ravenclaw tables.

Pomona smiled to herself as she noticed the glances and small smiles between James and Amelia, content to keep those thoughts to herself for now as she led their pair out of the great hall and down towards the kitchens to find the secret barrels that led to the Hufflepuff common room so they could all eat and relax at last.


	11. Chapter 11

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

**AN:** _Apologies for the wait, I got a hectic few weeks with work that took over my life and delayed this bunch of chapters. _

_Things are going 'easy' for Harry so far because he knows what's happening and has advanced knowledge of everything... this won't be a constant curb-stomp type story though, as things change because of Harry's time travelling, things will get more difficult to see coming and changes Harry can't anticipate will leave him floundering... _

* * *

_Though there's no one there to guide you_

_No one to take your hand_

_But with faith and understanding_

_You will journey from boy to man_

_\- "Son of Man" by Phil Collins_

**2nd September, 1991**

**Potter Manor**

**Honley**

"Junior, get your time travelling arse out of bed right now!"

James groaned as he rolled to the side, idly smiling as he felt Amelia snuggle back into his body and press her rather delicious curves into him. "I can kill him you know? It'll be justifiable, nobody would blame us?" He whispered, nuzzling into the back of Amelia's neck.

"Don't tempt me," Amelia muttered, enjoying the morning snuggle.

"Come on, you're all over the Daily Prophet, the Wireless hasn't stopped talking about you. Fudge's even been on the Wireless to announce about how he's fired Dumbledore and Old Tabby's taking over as Headmistress at Hogwarts, it's a huge thing!" There was a pause before Sirius continued on. "They're taking apart everything that was said piece by piece, even talking about how old Snakeface confirmed Snivellius was a Death Eater and Dumbledork still hired him for the job and protected him from being arrested."

"Silencing charms maybe? Or a gag? We could always get him neutered?" James muttered, very tempted to give into the urge to simply pull the duvet up over their heads and go back to sleep.

"You were the one that decided to adopt him, he's your problem child, not mine." Amelia groaned, wriggling back into James' body and enjoying the warmth coming from him and the feeling of his firm body pressing against her back.

"He's not mine, that... that's just disturbing." James muttered, frowning at that rather odd mental image.

"I can hear you two talking in there you know."

"Then go away!" James yelled out, rolling his eyes.

"Unless you two are naked, I'm coming in in ten seconds."

"Do that and you won't live to see another sunrise." Amelia warned him sharply. "Go and start the kettle, we'll be down in a minute."

"Yes, oh Mistress Leo."

"OK, kill him." James grunted, rolling over onto his back in frustration. "I'm adding silencing charms all over that door when I get chance."

"He'd probably see that as a challenge," Amelia muttered, rolling onto her other side so she could face him now. "Morning you." She grinned.

"Morning," James grinned back, leaning in to steal a morning kiss. "Mistress Leo, I mean, really?" He muttered, shaking his head.

"Well, I actually quite like the idea of you calling me Mistress," Amelia grinned, slowly dragging her nails down his chest and admiring the marks she'd left last night.

"Hmmm," James grinned, leaning in for a deeper kiss this time.

"I should go though, Cornelius will be panicking enough at The Ministry, and without Albus around for him to sneak off and beg for advice, he'll end up turning..."

"To Malfoy." James groaned, lifting his head up and letting it fall back to the pillow in a thump of frustration.

"Precisely," Amelia nodded. "I'll floo when I can, dinner tonight?"

"I'll convince Sirius to go out somewhere, maybe he can start humping a tree out in the garden somewhere or something." James sighed, sitting up in the bed and ruffling his hair.

Amelia snorted at that, rolling over so she could sit up in bed as well. "Without Harry and Susan around, we have more free time now." She explained with a small smile. "We should be the ones that go out for a meal."

"That... that sounds perfect." James grinned as he stood up and headed towards the bathroom.

"Hmmm," Amelia grinned, looking over and admiring the long and deep scratch marks she'd left running down the entire length of James' back, along with his very delicious arse on display as he walked. "I'll get changed after work and floo you from the manor?"

"Definitely," James called from the bathroom, the sound of running water muffling his voice slightly.

"Remember Minerva wanted to see you today as well." Amelia reminded him as she watched him come back into the bedroom, smiling at how the teeth marks around his neck, shoulders and chest were visible to her as he wandered over to the drawers to find his underwear and jeans.

"Don't remind me," James groused as he tugged on his underwear and watched as Amelia started heading towards the bathroom, spending a rather decadent amount of time watching the sway of her hips and how it accentuated her backside.

"Stop staring or we'll never get downstairs," Amelia laughed as she moved into the bathroom and out of view. "And remind me to bring some more clothes here next time, it'll make mornings easier if I'm not casting cleaning charms over everything each morning."

"Spoilsport," James chuckled to himself, tugging on his jeans and wriggling into them to get comfortable. "I'll see you downstairs alright? Coffee? Breakfast?"

"Just coffee," Amelia shot back from the bathroom.

James simply nodded at that, standing up and stretching before heading out of the bedroom and downstairs, happy to just wear jeans today until he had to go out anywhere.

The truth was, the confrontation last night at Hogwarts had gone far, far better than anything he'd hoped for. Albus had had his secrets revealed on the national Wireless, Minister Fudge was accepting Voldemort was back and was bolstering the Auror forces, well, he said he was. He'd wait and see whether that actually happened or not.

Snape had vanished, and was unlikely to return to Hogwarts. Voldemort had been dealt with and was reduced to his spirit form, yet again, and Hogwarts was now under Minerva's control, which meant stupid events like the Tri-Wizard Tournament and idiotic things like dementor guards and Ministry Inquisitors, were very unlikely to occur in the future.

Last night hadn't simply been a success, it had been a resounding success beyond his wildest dreams.

"Finally!"

James rolled his eyes as he ambled through into the kitchen, thankful that the stove pot kettle was already simmering and ready for him to use for his morning coffee.

"Wow, looks like you had a wild night. Didn't know 'Melia liked it that rough?" Sirius joked with a joking leer, admiring the bite marks and scratches that were clearly in view this morning.

"Say that to her and she'll neuter you on the spot." James warned, fetching two mugs down and starting to make up the coffee for him and Amelia. "Where's the wireless, I thought you said you had it on?"

"Turned it off," Sirius shrugged. "Started playing Celestina Warbeck, it was either turn it off, toss it out of the window, or cut off my ears."

"Good choice," James grunted, pouring out the boiling water into the two mugs and enjoying the smell that wafted up into the kitchen from the coffee.

"What's the plan for today then?" Sirius badgered quickly, already having his morning drink made and ready. "Keep pushing the offensive? While you were out playing with Voldemort and Dumbledore yesterday, I went down to Diagon and secured up the Black vaults, and got my own wand." He explained, brandishing his shiny new ebony wand for everyone to see.

"Something like that," James muttered, enjoying a deep drink of the coffee. "Little Hangleton, you know it?" He asked. "Out towards Bristol?"

"Not off hand," Sirius shrugged, leaving his wand on the breakfast table when it didn't get any reaction from him. "What's there?"

"Voldemort's father's bones." James explained bluntly, causing Sirius to suck in a deep breath. "He used them to get a new body last time, I'm not taking the chance this time."

"Probably a good idea," Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "That's some pretty dark stuff though Junior, ritual work like that can be tricky as hell. Blood sacrifice, it's not pretty stuff."

"I remember," James nodded as Amelia came into the kitchen. "We'll head up there, take care of the bones, then over to Grimmauld if you feel up to it?" He asked, looking to Sirius as he handed the mug of coffee over to Amelia.

"Yeah, can do." Sirius frowned, but agreed none-the-less. "Not saying I like it, but getting started on these horcruxes is definitely a good thing."

"Plotting for the day then?" Amelia asked, leaning against the worktop next to James as she took a sip of her coffee. "You know Cornelius will be asking for a meeting with you as well."

"Let him ask," James groused, shaking his head in disgust at the thought.

"If he can't get to you, then he'll try sending messages through Harry." Amelia pointed out. "Surely it's better to play on his good side now that he's doing what we want, instead of alienating him and pushing him into Malfoy's hands."

"Better the devil we know?" James muttered, ruffling his hair in annoyance.

"More like, better to keep the devil on our side, for now, anyway." Amelia admitted with a small smile.

"Hate to say it, but she's right." Sirius nodded over. "Politicians are all the same, if he can latch onto you and be seen in the spotlight, he'll do whatever you want to stay in your good graces." He explained with a toasting motion with his mug. "You're the toast of the town, The-Vanquisher-of-Voldemort, The-Defeater-of-Dumbledore, The-Man-Who..."

"Man who doesn't need, or want, any more of those stupid hyphenated names the idiots at the Daily Prophet dream up." James interrupted firmly.

"My point is, everyone is going to be looking at you like the next coming of Merlin, Fudge included." Sirius pointed out. "You use that to push through the changes you want now, and it can save you a hell of a lot of work later on."

"When you're making sense, I know the world has gone to hell." James frowned, glaring towards Sirius over his coffee mug as he enjoyed a large mouthful.

"He's right," Amelia nodded. "And you're right on that too." She smirked, agreeing with James' comment.

"Fine, whatever," James sighed to himself. "It's Monday, if Fudge asks, tell him I'll come by The Ministry in the week, Thursday or Friday, whenever." He grunted, not liking the idea of playing with politicians one bit.

"I'll drop a few hints, I'm sure he'll figure them out." Amelia smiled thoughtfully.

"You could drop a hippogriff on his head for all I care," James muttered.

"I doubt that'll have the same effect, but I'll keep that in mind." Amelia said, rolling her eyes as she finishing off her coffee and left her mug on the side board. "See you tonight."

"Alright," James smiled, leaning in for a kiss and ignoring the wolf whistle that came from Sirius' direction.

"Behave, or I'll bring a rolled up newspaper next time." Amelia smirked over as she broke the kiss. "Have fun digging up graveyards today."

"Digging up graves or playing with politicians, tough choice." James muttered.

"I think we got the better deal." Sirius said after a moment's thought.

"Definitely," James nodded back.

"Wizards," Amelia muttered as she made her way through to the living room and the floo, stepping in and vanishing in a burst of emerald fire.

"So..." Sirius drawled out, wriggling his eyebrows towards James.

"Don't start Sirius." James muttered, refilling his coffee mug with steaming water before stirring in two teaspoons of instant coffee.

"I'm just curious," Sirius grinned. "It's a bit weird, having two godsons, one who's older than me and is shacking up with the director of the DMLE."

"By like, five or six years or something." James muttered, ignoring the rest of Sirius' comment.

"Still," Sirius smirked back. "It's weird."

"Do we need to have the sex talk Sirius? Do you know where little witches and wizards come from?" James asked in a mock innocent voice as he looked over towards Sirius.

"Smart arse," Sirius laughed, flipping James a middle fingered salute. "Look, whatever is going on between you two, it's good for you, you seem happy, that's all."

"And?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And... alright it's weirding me out." Sirius exclaimed with a mock shudder. "You're little Harry, not James, not whatever else everyone things you are. You're Harry."

"I'm thirty eight, thirty nine now if we count the last birthday, though with all the time travel stuff I don't even know if that counts or not." James muttered, trying to keep that straight in his head. "I haven't been 'little Harry' in a long time."

"You'll always be little Harry." Sirius explained. "Look, I know I wasn't there for you last time, but give me a chance alright, things are better now." He said with a small smile. "I can help."

"I know," James sighed. "I wouldn't be asking you to come to the graveyard with me if I didn't think you could help." He pointed out. "But I don't need a father figure anymore Sirius, I grew out of that a long time ago. Let's just work on friends, friends for now."

"Friends, I can work with that." Sirius smiled.

"Yeah, that'll work." James smiled back.

"I still can't believe the Pronglet is a Hufflepuff," Sirius muttered, scratching his head in confusion at that revelation. "You seriously weren't pulling a prank on me with that?"

"No joke," James nodded. "Threw me for a minute too I guess, but the more I thought about it, the more I kinda liked it."

"Explain," Sirius prompted, leaning back in his chair as he tried to contemplate this.

"Justice, dedication, fairness and loyalty?" James ticked off on his hand. "I know Hufflepuffs were always really a joke, but one of the best people I knew was a Hufflepuff when I was at Hogwarts, so yeah, I can see it." He admitted. "I always hated bullies, justice for everyone was basically what I fought for, that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of blood, money or whatever else. And you know how much loyalty means to people like us." He pointed out with a gesture towards Sirius, reminding him of Peter Pettigrew.

"Never really thought about the 'Puffs like that." Sirius mused aloud, rocking back on his chair at the kitchen table. "Aways seemed a bit full of hugs and lovey dovey stuff to me."

"The mini-me seemed to be happy with it," James shrugged. "Besides, if Hufflepuff are loyal to him, he'll end up with some great friends out of it instead of some of the idiots I stuck with through my years."

"Not mad the kid didn't get into Gryffindor like you then?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Jealous actually." James snorted with amusement at the thought. "A common room down by the kitchens, not sharing a doom-room with Ron 'snores like a congested dragon' Weasley? Not having to climb up all those stairs to Gryffindor tower every time you needed something from your dorm room?"

"Wow, yeah." Sirius blinked, thinking about that for a moment. "They've really got a common room down by the kitchens?"

"Uhuh," James nodded back.

"We got stiffed!" Sirius groaned, thinking about all the midnight snacks they could have gotten away with if they'd been in Hufflepuff back then. "Alright, one last question."

"If it's about Amelia or our sex life, I will curse you." James muttered, narrowing his eyes as he looked towards Sirius dubiously.

Sirius snorted at that but shook his head. "I was listening to the Wireless, I heard everything, and the reporter was actually pretty good about describing what was going on."

"So?" James asked, enjoying a mouthful of his coffee and trying to figure out where this was going.

"I get why you punched Voldemort, that protection stuff you told me about, he couldn't touch you, so when you touched him it turned him to dust." Sirius nodded. "But you punched Dumbledore? From what it sounded like, you didn't even cast a curse at him, you just punched him?"

"And?" James paused, wondering what the question was.

"What's the deal with punching? It's... it's not the done thing Junior." Sirius explained with a frown.

"Ah, actually, because of that." James pointed out, nodding to Sirius. "Pure blood's expect curses, duels and fighting with magic. They all think it's what makes them better than muggles."

"So you punch them because..." Sirius trailed off, cocking his head to the side thoughtfully.

"One, they never expect it. It catches them off guard, and pretty much every wizard I've ever punched has collapsed like a sack of shit. They've got no idea how to fight close up, they're just used to using their wands to show how superior they are." James explained patiently, holding up one finger to Sirius. "The only witch I ever actually saw doing anything like it was your crazy cousin with her knife, but even she didn't really use it for anything other that torturing people and threatening them, using it to scare people." He explained, repressing the angry urges that came up when he thought about how Bellatrix had tortured Hermione so many years ago now.

"Two, they hate it. It's 'muggle' and beneath them. So defeating them like a muggle is like rubbing salt in the wound. I've lost count of the amount of pure blood idiots that start ranting and raving about me taking them down like that when I should have duelled like a proper wizard." He pointed out, lifting up a second finger.

"So you fight like a muggle just to use their own prejudices against them?" Sirius asked, laughing loudly at the thought when James nodded back. "I was having doubts you were Prongs' son, but that just erased all of them." He exclaimed with a wide grin. "Punching Voldemort like a muggle has to be the best prank ever in the history of pranking!"

"I thought so," James smirked over. "Not to mention, punching Dumbledore was the most satisfying thing I've ever done, literally." He explained with a grin. "I've wanted to do that for bloody years after everything he put me through." He laughed.

"Your dad'd be proud Junior, of you and Pronglet." Sirius said with a smile and a nod. "Your mum too."

"Thanks Sirius." James nodded back, he didn't need to hear anyone's approval anymore, but it was nice to hear, especially from Sirius.

* * *

**Hufflepuff First Years Dorm**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

**Scotland**

Harry was woken up by unfamiliar noises around him before he regained enough consciousness to figure out exactly where he was and what the noises were.

The bed in the Hufflepuff Dorms had been almost heavenly to sleep on, the mattress was softer than a cloud, and the duvet was overstuffed to the point of decadence, leaving him feeling extremely cosy and warm as he struggled to an awake feeling.

"Mornin',"

"Morning," Harry muttered, rubbing his hair idly and pushing it out of his face.

"Didn't mean to wake you, I'm normally up early." Earnest admitted with a bashful look over to Harry.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, shaking his head as he fumbled towards consciousness before attempting to climb out of bed and find his glasses.

"Roll to the side first, it's easier that way, my mum warned me about these beds" He explained with a laugh.

Harry considered the advice before trying it out, and quickly conceded that rolling on the overly soft mattress was certainly easier than trying to climb around on it. "Thanks." He said aloud as he managed to clamber out of the bed.

"No problem," Earnest grinned back. "Bathrooms are through there if you wanted to grab one of the tubs before the rest wake up."

Harry nodded in thanks for that, following Earnest's suggestion as he stumbled through to the bathroom indicated.

His dorm-mates were pretty cool as far as he was concerned, Ernest Macmillan was a a blond haired wizard that was a few inches shorter than Harry was. He was open and friendly, and seemed to be pretty relaxed about everything that had happened last night.

Justin Finch-Fletchley was a few inches taller than him and had dark brown hair, he was a muggle-born so got a lot of the muggle references that Harry had made last night, which had helped ease the tension and gave him someone that could understand his desire to figure out absolutely everything about this new magical world.

Wayne Hopkins was the fourth in their room and had been pretty quiet last night, mostly staying to himself and reading quietly on his bed, making it a rather peaceful dorm area where Harry could definitely see himself relaxing without being bothered by anyone.

Bathing didn't take long, and while his hair still refused to do anything and remained barely controlled chaos on-top of his head, he was soon still washed, dressed and ready for the day before either of the other two boys from his dorm had entered the bathroom.

Coming back out of the bathroom he could see that Justin and Wayne were awake and chatting, though neither had bothered to get out of bed yet. "So, what's the schedule for today then?" Harry asked curiously, getting dressed into his school uniform and looking over at where Earnest was already packing his bag.

"Professor Sprout will hand out class schedules at breakfast," Earnest explained. "I wouldn't worry though, my mum says the first two days are always pretty easy, it's mostly settling everyone in and getting them used to the castle."

"That's if we've even got classes anymore." Justin pointed out. "With Professor Dumbledore gone, and Professor Quirrell... well... dust?"

"Dust," Earnest confirmed. "We all saw it, kinda hard to miss that he was being possessed by You-Know-Who when Harry's dad punched the ghost right out of him."

"True," Wayne nodded in agreement. "Nobody knows where Professor Snape ran off too either."

"So that's two professors we're missing, and we haven't even started our first day yet?" Earnest asked. "Wow, your dad should come here more often, we wouldn't have any teachers by the end of the week and we can all go home again." He laughed, grinning over to Harry.

"He was pretty cool though," Justin pointed out. "I think he's the first wizard I've seen wearing jeans and a leather jacket."

"It's dragon-skin," Harry said with a wide grin at Justin's wide-eyed reaction. "I know right? But yeah, he's cool. He doesn't bother with all of this robe stuff either, Amelia does though, but she has to for work I guess."

"Amelia? Madame Bones?" Earnest clarified, blinking a bit in surprise. "She... um... and your dad?"

"She's his girlfriend," Harry explained, pulling a pained expression. "She kept telling me to call her Amelia, I still kinda think of her as Miss Bones though."

"Wow, I don't envy you." Earnest muttered, wincing at that thought. "She's the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." He explained to Justin who was looking at him blankly.

"Basically the magical police commissioner." Wayne converted that into a muggle term Justin could understand.

"Oh, oh wow." Justin breathed out. "Yeah, definitely better you than me mate." He said with a laugh.

"Isn't a bit weird? I mean, your dad... having a girlfriend?" Earnest asked curiously.

"A bit," Harry admitted, scrunching up his nose as he thought about it. "Not in the way you'd think though." He said thoughtfully. It wasn't weird because of Amelia, it was weird because his 'dad' was an older time travelling version of himself. "My mum died when I was a baby, so..." He trailed off with a shrug. "I guess having Amelia as a sort of step-mum could be cool?"

"Until you get in trouble," Wayne pointed out.

"I'll just have to make sure I don't get caught." Harry grinned back at that, causing all three boys to break into laughter.

"So, that makes Susan..." Justin trailed off thoughtfully.

"Yeah, basically my sister." Harry nodded. "She's fun though, so I don't mind that."

"Anyway, I'm starting to get hungry," Earnest commented. "Where do we go for breakfast?"

"Probably that big hall," Harry said after a moment's thought. "I mean, we were supposed to eat there last night right? But dad sort of..."

"Got into a fight with You-Know-Who and ruined the meal?" Justin asked with a grin.

"Shouted his head off, then punched out the Headmaster before he could serve up the food?" Wayne added on.

"Alright alright," Harry laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. "Fine, blame him for last nights food then."

"Yeah, because I'm going to blame with someone who took down Dumbledore and You-Know-Who in the same duel without breaking a sweat," Earnest muttered, shaking his head at the thought. "I'm no Ravenclaw, but I'm not stupid." He said with a laugh. "Come on, maybe there's some of the older guys in the common room that can show us the way up?"

"Alright," Harry nodded over. "See you guys in a bit." He smiled to Justin and Wayne before heading down the corridors off of the dorm room and following the winding maze around that led back to the main Hufflepuff common room.

Harry had fallen in love with the Hufflepuff common room as soon as he'd entered it, it was light and airy, open and wide, everything that his cupboard under the stairs hadn't been.

There were leather couches everywhere, and overstuffed beanbags scattered in various places for those who wanted to jostle down and make their own comfort instead if lazing on one of the couches. Various plants were dotted on shelves and pots around the room, giving it a natural and 'down to earth' feel that made relaxing anywhere around the common room really easy.

He had been surprised at first when the sorting hat had mentioned Hufflepuff to him, but after what felt like an age of talking with the hat about what different things meant to him and why he felt he belonged in Gryffindor, he had finally admitted that he'd only been sure about Gryffindor because his older self had been placed there, and that the hat actually had made a lot of sense when it talked about his sense of fairness and loyalty.

Hufflepuff felt strangely right, the dorm room was amazingly comfortable, and the common room was already feeling like a home away from home with it's earthy and natural colours.

"Morning Harry,"

"Hey Susan," Harry grinned over as he spotted Susan on one of the couches chatting with Hannah. "How's your dorm?"

"Only three of us," Susan smiled as Harry and Earnest came over. "Me, Hannah, and Sarah." She explained with a shrug. "We've got tons of room, it's great."

"Yeah, there's only four of us as well." Harry nodded to Earnest. "We're thinking about hunting for breakfast?"

"Definitely," Susan nodded emphatically. "Lead on?" She asked, looking to Hannah who smiled in agreement as they both stood up from the couch, happy to follow Harry through to the great hall.

* * *

**The Ministry of Magic**

**Department of Magical Law Enforcement**

**London**

In The Ministry, Amelia Bones was certainly not having the best day. Manic didn't even come close to describing how everyone around The Ministry was acting, it was bordering on panic in some cases, and had left her office swamped with messages demanding her presence in meetings with practically every department in the building.

Molly Weasley had been arrested yesterday morning for breaching the Statute of Secrecy at Kings Cross Station. According to the report, she'd been yelling about 'muggles' and 'platform nine and three quarters' in full view of hundreds of muggles, and while it hadn't been a serious breach, it had been enough that she'd been slapped with a hundred galleon fine for her actions.

Thankfully she was certain that the muggles in the area had, more than likely rightfully so, assumed that Molly Weasley was simply crazy, so had written off anything she'd been shouting about as if she was just some homeless lunatic that had gotten into the station.

"What?" She barked out as she heard a knock on her office door, not even looking up from the pile of parchments on her desk.

"No need to be like that, I come baring gifts."

Amelia grimaced as she looked up, wincing towards Julia in a silent apology. "It's not a good time." She explained as Julia came in, closing the office door behind her.

"Sounds it," Julia nodded, placing the plate of sandwiches down on an empty area of Amelia's desk. "Figured you could use something to help you through the day."

"It's appreciated," Amelia nodded, leaning back in her chair and groaning. "What brings you down here to the eye of the storm then?"

"Cornelius called us all in, calling for the Governors to hold a vote establish Minerva as Headmistress and remove Albus from the position officially." Julia explained.

"And?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It wasn't unanimous, but we got it through." Julia nodded with a small smile. "Lucius was trying to push his own agenda through and get one of his puppets appointed, but he seemed rather off colour about what happened last night and didn't push too hard."

"That's surprising," Amelia frowned thoughtfully, drumming her fingers on her desk. "With Voldemort out in the open, I'd have thought Lucius would have gone running back to his old master as soon as he could."

"When did you start saying that name?" Julia asked, shuddering at the casual mention of You-Know-Who's name.

"It's a made up name, it's silly to keep calling him all those other names when we all know who we're talking about." Amelia waved the thought away.

"Tom Riddle," Julia nodded, we all heard it on the Wireless. "It was even in The Prophet this morning, somehow they had pictures of the entire thing. I reckon by the end of the week they'll have his entire life story printed for everyone to read about. Skeeter didn't even have to sensationalise a single thing. "

"She couldn't, not without contradicting what everyone heard on the Wireless." Amelia shrugged. Inwardly amused that James' plan to get Rita Skeeter there had worked, it was obvious she'd been in the great hall using her animagus ability to stay hidden and out of the way.

"You don't believe Lucius' imperius claims either then?" Julia asked with an amused smirk.

"I wouldn't believe Lucius Malfoy if he tried to tell me Slytherins wore green." Amelia said dryly. "No, he's planning something. I wouldn't be surprised in Voldemort was holed up at Malfoy Manor right now."

"It's a good bet," Julia nodded, knowing full well about Lucius' darker tendencies. "Cornelius seemed rather impressed with your little boytoy though, I have to admit, he's got the public eating out of the palm of his hand after that display last night."

"Oh?" Amelia asked, cocking an eyebrow up. "He's hardly a boytoy."

"Mantoy then," Julia smirked back. "The Prophet is calling them The Prophecised Potters, it doesn't help that Dumbledore all but confirmed the existence of a prophecy, but nobody knows what it says."

"Albus and Severus do," Amelia muttered, shaking her head at the thought. "I haven't even had chance to look at The Prophet this morning actually. I've got a copy around here... somewhere..." She grimaced, looking around her parchment filled office in vein.

"Your boy's got the front page, pages two and three all to himself." Julia chuckled. "A lot about Harry Potter as well, his sorting into Hufflepuff, and a load of fluff about how everyone wishes him the best of luck at Hogwarts."

"The usual sycophantic twaddle with The Prophet trying to stay on James' good side then?" Amelia snorted, shaking her head in amusement.

"That's pretty much it," Julia confirmed. "I do have to apologise to you though, Cornelius was asking questions about James, and I may have let it slip about your relationship with him."

Amelia groaned at that, letting her head fall back to the back rest on her chair as she looked up at the ceiling. "And?" She grimaced.

"He found it interesting, I'll bet it influences his decisions now." Julia admitted. "Lucius heard it as well, so you'll have to keep a closer eye on his behaviour."

"I already had my eye on him," Amelia admitted. "I'll have to warn James as well, he won't like that it's become public knowledge already."

"Sorry," Julia sighed. "You'll probably have questions coming to you as well, about the Bones and Potter families and what you're going to be doing with them."

"Like am I going to marry and become a Potter?" Amelia anticipated with a groan. "And leave Susan to try and carry on the Bones legacy on her own? No chance in hell." She explained firmly.

"I expected as much," Julia admitted with a smile. "Unlike you, I'll be happy to let the Greengrass name die off. If only to spite those idiots who think the Sacred Twenty Eight makes them practically royalty."

"And Daphne and Astoria?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow at that piece of information.

"Daphne knows, she understands that she'll always be a Greengrass, even when she gets married." Julia explained. "But she also understands that our family doesn't have the best history, Cyrus' father fighting alongside Grindlewald left a big stain on the Greengrass name, he was content with letting the name die out with Daphne and Astoria when we didn't have a son."

"Hnh," Amelia grunted, acknowledging that point for what it was.

"Cyrus was trying to regain the family honour before letting it die out, I'll proudly continue that plan." Julia explained with a small but proud smile. "I'll stand with you and James when it comes down to it."

"A Potter, Bones, Greengrass alliance?" Amelia mused aloud, rolling the thought around in her head. "I'll float the idea to James and see what he thinks of it. It can hardly be a formal alliance though." She explained with a snort of laughter.

"Not unless you're willing to share your new toy," Julia smirked over with a wink to show she was mostly kidding. "Besides, I'm sure more of the light families will be circling around James now, especially after the beating Albus' reputation got last night."

"That did make me smile," Amelia grinned wolfishly at that, seeing Albus Dumbledore taken down a peg or two and then utterly removed from Hogwarts in a single stroke had been masterful as far as she was concerned, and she'd definitely rewarded James for that rather handsomely last night.

Julia's joke about making a formal alliance didn't really fall flat with her though, the idea was stuck in her brain and fermenting there rather strangely. A formal alliance between the Potter, Bones and Greengrass families would definitely be something that would shake up a lot of their world, and would head off a lot of awkward questions that she and James would have to answer later on.

If Julia was willing to take the Potter name and continue the Potter family legacy, leaving the Greengrass name to die out after Daphne and Astoria married, then that left her to continue the Bones family name and kept Susan's options open to marry for love when she grew up, instead of being forced to chose between love and a continuance arrangement.

It wouldn't be a hardship really, she'd had witches as lovers before, much to the disgust of the pure blood bigots around who were only interested in seeing her continue her family name regardless of her own wishes, and Julia was certainly attractive enough to consider the option, though formally it would make Harry, Susan, Daphne and Astoria siblings.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Amelia shook her head, clearing those thoughts as she focused back on what Julia was talking about.

"Just how Nott was trying to arrange a contract with Daphne for his eldest, nothing to worry about." Julia waved off the thought. "Like I'd ever sign a contract tying Daphne to that Death Eater spawn."

"Hmn," Amelia nodded thoughtfully, not mentioning that in James' future she knew that Astoria ended up married to Draco Malfoy somehow. Which led to the rather uncomfortable thought of what had happened to Julia? Had she survived Voldemort's rising in James' future? Or had she died in the fighting like she had, another victim of Voldemort's Death Eaters?

"I'll let you get back to it, do say hello to that boytoy of yours when you see him, and thank him for his actions last night." Julia smirked as she stood up with a wink. "Though I'm sure you already thanked him rather thoroughly last night." She added with a lavish grin.

"I will neither confirm nor deny that fact," Amelia smirked back with a wink, causing Julia to break out in a loud laugh. "Say hi to Astoria for me."

"Will do," Julia smiled as the left the office, leaving Amelia to her piles of paperwork and her thoughts.


	12. Chapter 12

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Little Hangleton graveyard**

**Little Hangleton **

"That, was actually pretty anti-climactic." Sirius mock complained as he stood over the empty grave, watching as James reduced the bones inside to dust with a few well placed blasting curses.

"Speak for yourself," James muttered, idly vanishing the remnants of the bones, completely erasing all of Voldemort's father from existence. "The last time I was here, Vodemort had me tied to that thing," He explained, nodding to the towering marble headstone and the statue of the Angel of Death looming over it. "While Pettigrew stole my blood for his new body."

"That must have sucked," Sirius muttered, waving his wand towards the empty grave and causing the earth and grass to flood over it and ripple until it was perfectly flat again with no evidence of it ever having been disturbed.

"You have NO idea," James grimaced, shaking his head and looking over to the side of the graveyard towards the vague direction of where he knew Cedric had died that night.

"It's still weird you know, you having all these future memories that haven't happened yet." Sirius muttered as he followed James away from the Riddle grave. "You still don't know how you even got back here?"

"No clue," James admitted, leaning against a grave stone casually as he looked around the graveyard. "Best I can figure, Nott or Malfoy must have been trying to build some sort of new time turner or something. I remember we got a report to go and raid Nott Manor, but aside from that..." He trailed off with a shrug.

"Think they were trying to do what you did?" Sirius asked thoughtfully. "Come back and change things?"

"Maybe?" James frowned, not liking that thought at all. If the Malfoy's had come back, with all the same future knowledge he had, they could have really caused a hell of a lot of problems for the world, and probably would have led to Voldemort winning the war without any resistance at all. "Who knows, best I can figure out, as soon as I started changing things, that future that I came from got wiped out anyway." He explained his thoughts with a shrug.

"I just wish you knew how you'd done it," Sirius sighed, leaning against the headstone next to James. "If we could do it again, I could go back and..."

"I know," James nodded, giving Sirius a small smile. Going back in time and saving James and Lily would have been Sirius' only wish, and he knew Sirius wouldn't hesitate to give up his life if it meant James and Lily could survive.

"It isn't fair you know?" Sirius muttered, looking around the graveyard. "Prongs should be here, him and Lils didn't deserve this."

"We never get the life we deserve," James sighed, ruffling his hair. "You didn't deserve to spend a decade in Azkaban, I sure as hell didn't deserve to grow up locked in a cupboard with relatives that hated me." He explained. "We've just got to do the best with what we've got."

"We'll do it better this time though, right?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Has to be," James snorted, shaking his head. As far as he could see, the world was already better than it had been last time.

Sirius was free a whole two years early and was legally innocent this time. Dumbledore's meddling had been brought into the light, so he wouldn't be trying to test and guide Harry towards committing suicide. His younger self had his place at the Potter Manor, and didn't have to live with The Dursley's anymore, and Fudge had admitted Voldemort was actually back and was making preparations early, a big change from the way he stuck his head in the sand and caused all those problems last time.

"We done here then?" Sirius asked, taking one last glance back at the Riddle grave and giving a mock shudder towards it. "Because hanging around in graveyards isn't really my idea of a fun time."

"Hah hah," James muttered dryly, pushing himself off the headstone. "Yeah, we're done here. There's no way snakeface can use anything here to get his body back now, so unless he finds another way, he'll be stuck possessing people."

"Then lets get out of here, no offence, but this place gives me the creeps." Sirius explained, making a disgusted face at what they were doing.

"You alright to do Grimmauld today then? Get the locket from Kreacher and deal with that?" James asked, raising an eyebrow towards Sirius.

"Maybe," Sirius sighed, clearly thinking about it. "I haven't been there, not since they kicked me out. I swore I'd never go back."

"Alright," James nodded. "We can give it another few days if you want? We can't do anything about another of the horcruxes anyway yet, I haven't even figured out how I'm going to get to the cup." He admitted with a grimace.

"Thanks," Sirius nodded, breathing out a sigh of relief at being given a reprieve from returning to Grimmauld Place so soon. "I think I'll just... take a day you know?"

"Yeah," James nodded over with a small smile. "Go to Diagon, have a wander around, spend some time with actual people for a change." He prompted with a grin. "Maybe it'll stop you from making jokes about me and Amelia if you can find your someone's leg to hump for yourself."

"Hah hah," Sirius muttered dryly but brightened at the thought. "Yeah, maybe." He grinned back. "What about you?"

"Got to see Minerva up at Hogwarts, I'll deal with the horcrux there when I get the chance." James shrugged. "Check on the mini-me and the others, then take Amelia out for a meal tonight."

"Ohhh?" Sirius leered with a wink. "Getting serious with the witch are you?" He asked, nudging James' shoulder with his own. "Kidding aside, you deserve it kid."

"More like just taking her out so we don't have to suffer through another night of your bad jokes." James smirked back with a wink.

"Owch, that hurts Junior, really, right here." Sirius groaned, placing his hand over his heart and staggering theatrically. "You wound me."

"I'll aim better next time." James grinned.

"Seriously though, you and 'Melia, it's a good thing. It's weird, but it's good." Sirius nodded with a smile. "You never really talked about having anyone in the future?"

"Not really," James shook his head with a sigh. "There was someone, could have I been someone I guess." He admitted. "I liked her, but never told her how I felt. Too busy wallowing and stuck with the feelings that nobody really wanted me, or I didn't deserve anyone like that. By the time I'd figured out that she liked me as well, it was too late." He explained with a frown. "It was my fault I guess, I wasn't exactly smart when it came to witches at Hogwarts, not even after." He said with a shrug. "I could probably blame it on Uncle Vernon, Dumbles or a hell of a lot of things, but when it comes down to it, it's my fault that I didn't see how great she was until it was too late."

"Married someone else?" Sirius asked, his earlier joking disposition completely gone now.

"Walked away from the magical world altogether, went to live without magic." James explained with a grimace.

"Muggleborn then," Sirius nodded knowingly. "Can't say I'm surprised, a lot of them end up that way, leaving our world and going back."

"Only because the pure blood idiots drive them away." James pointed out. "It's no surprise the magical world is stagnant and stuck hundreds of years out of date, when all the new people are being forced to walk away from it."

"Can't say I disagree with that, I probably told you about how I grew up right?" Sirius asked, then continued when he got a nod in response. "I had pure blood superiority shoved down my throat since I was old enough to talk, so believe me, I know how fed up people can get with it being thrown around so much." He explained. "Lils hated it, she was going to go on and apprentice under Flitwick before the war kicked off. She'd have probably become a teacher as well, she'd have been great at it."

"I didn't know that," James admitted, surprised at finding out more about his parents. "You... you never spoke much about mum last time around? Everyone was always comparing me to dad, I got tons of stories about him, but never anything about mum."

"I guess it must have just been easier to talk to you about Prongs," Sirius explained with a small shrug. "You look the spit of him, I keep having to remind myself you're not really him." He explained, holding up his hands when James started to talk. "I know why you're doing it, I get it, hell, I'd have even suggested it myself to keep the Pronglet safe." He said. "But it's weird, looking at you and seeing Prongs, but you're nothing alike, not really."

"I never knew him, so..." James trailed off with a sad sigh. "All I had were a few stories from you and Remus, some photos and then letters I found in the family vault."

"Speaking of Remus," Sirius nodded, sidetracking the conversation. "Any idea where that wolf is?"

"Nope," James shrugged with a disinterested roll of his eyes. "I never found out last time either, he just showed up in third year as the defence teacher when Dumbledore called him in, but he never told me why he hadn't shown up before, sent a letter, or anything."

Sirius nodded at that, a dark expression on his face as he contemplated Remus' actions. He'd been thrown in Azkaban, that was the only reason he hadn't been there for Harry growing up, what was Remus excuse?

"Tried owling him again?" James asked curiously.

"Sent another this morning," Sirius nodded. "The owl took the letter, but no idea if he's even getting them since he never writes back."

James shrugged again at that, not massively bothered either way. It'd be nice to have Remus around, if only so Teddy would be born again. But he wasn't going to go out of his way to hunt for him when he hadn't done the same for him growing up.

"What was that?" Sirius asked, frowning as he considered the expression that he'd seen for just an instant. "Is there a problem with Mooney? Did he do something?"

"No, no, it's just..." James sighed, ruffling his fair in frustration. "Sirius, I only knew you for... what, two and a bit years? And that was mostly letters and a few weeks when Dumbledore actually let me stay at Grimmauld place, and even then we barely got past talking about anything aside from Voldemort and all that crap." He explained with a shrug.

Sirius frowned, not having thought that through properly.

"And Mooney," James sighed. "I knew him for about four years, less than that really, he was my teacher for one year, he didn't even tell me he was a friend of my dad's until I figured bits out and pushed him for it, and then I barely saw him again aside from summers when he was at Grimmauld, and that was only when I was allowed to be there too." He explained with a frown. "You're expecting me to know you, Mooney and everyone just because I'm from the future, well guess what? I don't really know you, I don't know Mooney, I don't know Tonks or anyone else like that." He explained with a touch of anger seeping into his voice as he paced around the graveyard.

"You all died, two decades ago!" James bit out. "I know Teddy better than I know his dad, hell, I was there when he graduated, when he started dating Victoire and asked her to marry him, and I helped him through the times Skeeter started making fuss about him being allowed at Hogwarts because he's the son of a werewolf."

"Teddy? He... Mooney..."

"Not the point Sirius," James waved that angry thought away. "You and Mooney were my dads friends, I get that." He explained. "But you both died, and I never got to know either of you. I never got to hear stories about my mum and dad, because you both listened to Dumbledore when he said it was better for me to stay isolated, better for me to be alone, better for me not to have you both around." He practically shouted the last.

"Junior, I wouldn't..."

"Mooney did," James pointed out angrily. "You did, you died because I was stupid enough to believe Voldemort had you. And what did Mooney do? Was he there to talk to me? Tell me how things would work out? Help me deal with it? No, he just left me alone, back in prison at The Dursley's just how Dumbledore ordered, no letters from him, no letters from my friends, nothing."

"Maybe he..."

"Dumbledore, he followed Dumbledore. He trusted Dumbledore, he believed everything Albus bloody Dumbledore said." James shouted. "That's why he was never there for me, because he was simply following Albus bloody Dumbledore's orders and didn't give a shit about how I was coping with everything!"

"You can't blame him for that, we all thought..."

"You were all wrong!" James snapped, glaring across at Sirius. "Maybe he hasn't done a lot of those things yet, but he sure as hell kept away from me growing up and left me to the Dursley's when he could have been there and helped me. What's his excuse there? Dumbledore told me too? Where's that famous Marauder loyalty there?"

"That's not fair Junior." Sirius said firmly.

"Would you have stayed away if Dumbledore hadn't kidnapped me from you and you ended up in prison?" James demanded. "Go on? Would you have listened to Dumbledore and followed his orders like a good little sheep?"

As Sirius looked away, James could see what the answer was.

"I didn't think so." James frowned, shaking his head. "That's the difference between you and Remus. You ended up in prison and couldn't be there for me. Mooney? That's just what Mooney does, abandons people. He abandoned me to The Dursley's when you were in prison, he abandoned me when you died, leaving me alone and blaming myself for everything. He abandoned his wife when she found out she was pregnant. That's what he does, I shouldn't even be surprised by it anymore. Voldemort has his idiots that follow him blindly without question, Dumbledore has his. They're just as bad as each other as far as I'm concerned."

"I'll ask him," Sirius said, still looking away from the anger he could see practically radiating out in the graveyard.

"You do that, because for me, he abandoned me nearly forty years ago. He's barely more than a ghost, a father to my godson that died before he spoke his first word." James explained bitterly as he stalked away through the graveyard. "Do what you want, I've got to see Minerva." He said angrily, twisting on the spot and vanishing with a crack, leaving Sirius alone in the graveyard to contemplate his angry words.

* * *

**Department of Magical Law Enforcement **

**Ministry of Magic**

**London **

"Yes?" Amelia grimaced, looking up as she heard the knock on her door interrupting her work yet again.

Today had been nothing but interruptions, with everyone from Cornelius Fudge pushing into her office to talk, down to reporters from the Daily Prophet trying to get to talk to her.

It was annoying and fraying her last nerve currently, as she had so much to do and was constantly being stopped from getting on with the work she needed to push on with.

It didn't help that she had annoyingly conflicting thoughts about a few things running around in her head now. Like she knew from James' memories that Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody were deep in Dumbledore's pocket, and had been part of his little club the last time around. But the fact was, both of them were great Aurors, and with Voldemort back, she needed all the talent in the corps that she could get.

"Madame Bones?"

Amelia flicked her eyes up at the unexpected voice, looking up to see Augusta Longbottom stood in her doorway hesitantly.

"Augusta? Is everything alright?" She asked, not used to seeing the old witch hesitant in anything she did. "Come in."

"Thank you," Augusta gave a small smile, coming into the office and gently closing the door behind her. "I'll get right to it. Is it true?"

"Voldemort?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

"I didn't want to believe the news when I read the Prophet this morning." Augusta admitted. "And it's true that James Potter was there to stop him?"

"True," Amelia admitted with a nod.

"And the rumours about you and James Potter, I assume are also indeed fact?" Augusta asked firmly.

"I haven't heard the rumours personally, but we are close if that is what you are asking." Amelia confirmed, cocking her head to the side. "What's this about Augusta?"

"And where has James been all these years?" Augusta demanded.

"In hiding I assume," Amelia frowned, sticking to the story she'd concocted with James to explain his apparent 'death'.

"And his lack of communication with Neville?" Augusta frowned over. "Perhaps it would be good of you to remind him of his obligations. Young Neville could do with a wizards influence in his life to help straighten him out."

"I..." Amelia frowned back. "I don't follow?" She asked.

"He might have had to go into hiding to protect his son, I can accept that." Augusta grunted. "But leaving Neville without his godfather or anyone else after Frank's death, he could have at the very least written."

Amelia blinked at this, the surprise clear on her face as she tried to accept what she was being told.

"I expect James to fulfil his obligations towards Neville. Do pass that along." Augusta said firmly. "He's not anywhere near the wizard his father was, but maybe if James had taken him under his wing like he should have, he wouldn't be floundering along."

"I'll... I'll pass on the message." Amelia nodded, unsure of what Augusta was actually talking about.

"See that you do." Augusta nodded before turning around, marching out of the office with a lot more attitude than she'd walked in with, leaving Amelia staring up from her desk in shock over what had happened.

James Potter had been Neville's godfather? That... that threw a lot of complications in the works.

While James wasn't really James Potter, assuming his father's identity meant living up to his obligations as well. Which meant James really would have to step into the role of Neville's godfather if he wanted to keep up the charade of being James Potter.

"Great," Amelia muttered to herself, making a mental note to bring that up with James tonight when she got chance.

Neville had been a friend of James' in the future, she remembered that much from what he'd told her and the memories he'd shown her, but she had absolutely no idea if he knew about his father being Neville's godfather, or if that fact had slipped his mind entirely.

Putting that thought aside for now she went back to focusing on her work, there was more than enough to do today without adding even more to the pile.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

James had to chuckle to himself as he walked onto the grounds of the school, keeping his hand comfortably in his jeans pockets as he walked, with his dragon-skin trench-coat billowing out behind him in the wind.

Stalking around the grounds had helped him bleed off some of the anger he'd built up in his argument with Sirius. He wasn't blaming Sirius, not really, and he wasn't angry at Mooney either. He was just frustrated, everyone in his life had always followed Dumbledore's orders without question, and being back here, back in this time, it was throwing it all back in his face and drudging up old grievances that he hadn't been old enough to understand the first time around.

He knew he cut a rather imposing figure as he walked across the grounds towards the castle itself, and judging by the excited whispers and hushed gossipping from the students around him, it was doing the job perfectly here too.

Originally he'd started walking faster just to ignore the whispers and glances that were shot his way after Voldemort's defeat, but that was twenty years ago now. In that time, he'd grown accustomed to hearing the whispers and talking, and was more than happy to just ignore them completely.

He'd cultivated quite the 'I don't give a shit' attitude to most things over the years by now, an attitude that he figured even Mad-Eye would have been impressed by. After dealing with politicians constantly trying to use him for their own ends, The Wizengamot's corruption trying to keep him from changing anything, and the various pure blood idiots around The Ministry than always sniped and made derogatory comments towards him, he'd always felt more than justified in his change in attitude.

If anything, after nearly fifteen years as an Auror, he now could very clearly understand how Mad-Eye Moody had acquired his distrustful lifestyle and grumpy disposition, he was even starting to follow some of those practises himself.

Walking into the castle in sunlight was like a flashback to the happier times of his life before the war. After the Battle of Hogwarts, the castle changed. Not just because of the damage that had been caused during the fighting, but something fundamental in the feel of the castle had changed as well.

Before those years, Hogwarts had always felt safe, secure, a home for those who needed it and a sanctuary for those that deserved it. During the battle, maybe even before it, Hogwarts had lost that sense of security and safety.

Maybe it had happened even as early as his sixth or fifth year when Malfoy had let the Death Eaters into the castle, or maybe even before that when The Ministry had practically invaded and Dumbledore had let Umbridge torture him for a year.

All he knew was that the feel of the castle had changed after everything was done, even Hermione had commented on it when she'd gone back to study for her NEWT's and finish her seventh year properly. Hogwarts was never the same, so it was actually strange to walk into the halls of the school and feel the welcoming hum of the magic around him, to hear the excited chatter of students running around the school, and to feel like the castle was actually still a safe and secure place for people to be.

Walking through the corridors he grinned as various students started staring it him and whispering amongst themselves as he made his way up to the main staircase and around to the Gargoyle Corridor on the second floor of the castle.

"Tell Professor McGonagall I'm here to see her." James announced, coming to stand in front of the gargoyle guardian at the base of the stairs.

He wasn't surprised when the gargoyle didn't respond to him, he knew the message would be relayed to the small gargoyle on the headmaster's desk that acted as a 'go between' for the two statues.

A few seconds later he smiled as the gargoyle moved aside, giving him access to the spiral staircase that led up to the Headmaster's tower.

He knocked on the door lazily as he reached the top of the stairs, after all, after getting Dumbledore removed from the school last night, he could at least be polite to Professor McGonagall on her first day of being a headmistress.

"Get in here Potter!"

James grinned to himself as he heard Minerva's Scottish burr shout through the door, the phrase pulling back memories of his time at Hogwarts and reminding him of happier days. Pushing it open before walking through to see Professor McGonagall pacing around her desk angrily.

To he surprise, the office was practically empty. The books and little nicknack's that Dumbledore had always had in the office were all gone, the pensieve cabinet had vanished, leaving the entire office feeling even more spacious and airy than it ever had been under Dumbledore's control.

"You, are not worth this much of a headache James!" Minerva groused, halting mid step and turning to glare at him.

"Oh?" James grinned over, noticing the large collection of howlers on the headmaster's desk before grimacing in response. "What are all those for?" He asked, nodding towards the howlers.

"Half of them demanding we send the students home right now, the other half demanding to know how You-Know-Who had been hired as a professor in the first place." Minerva explained.

James winced at that, not having thought about how everyone would react to having those pieces of news land on their laps the same day they'd sent their children off to Hogwarts.

"Precisely." Minerva bit out. "Severus at least had the good sense to send in his resignation, and for now, Septima has stepped up and taken the place of the Slytherin head of house."

James shrugged at that, not honestly caring one way or the other about what Snape did as long as he stayed away from him and his younger self.

"I have had to cancel most classes for today just so I could focus on the faculty we have lost, do you have any idea of how much work you have caused for me?" Minerva demanded, fixing James with a glare before snatching some parchment from her desk and storming over to him, slapping it against his chest. "Your contract."

"My... wait, no, not only no, but NO!" James said firmly, backing away from the parchments Minerva was holding towards him as if they were cursed.

"James, you WILL take this." Minerva bit out. "If you don't, then it's very likely I shall have to close the school until the winter term solely so that I can have the time to correctly interview enough people to fill the necessary roles." She explained bluntly.

"Minerva, I'm... I can't..." James frowned, shaking his head at the thought. "I'm not a teacher."

"I've lost my Defence and Potions professors in a single night. I can keep up between the position of headmistress and teaching transfiguration for now with Filius' help, but it is not a long term solution." Minerva explained. "You owe me this James, especially after everything you've done."

James narrowed his eyes, frowning at being backed into a corner like this before he grudgingly accepted the parchments.

"A lot of the parents will only allow their children to stay here if you are going to be here to protect the school." Minerva explained. "They are frightened after last night's occurrences, and need reassurances that we are protecting their children."

"There's a lot of people who won't like it either." James pointed out, gesturing to her with the parchment in his hand. "The dark families, Malfoy on the board, hell, most of Slytherin will revolt on principal." Though admittedly, when he thought about it, doing something like this to piss off the dark families was actually more of a reason to do it in his book.

"A small contingent," Minerva grudgingly admitted. "I informed the Board of Governors of my wishes to hire you when I informed them of my intentions to promote Filius to the deputy position."

"I bet Malfoy had something to say about that too," James smirked, shaking his head at the thought.

"Somewhat," Minerva admitted. "Though Madame Greengrass kept him in line somehow, he was rather subdued after she pointed out that you'd taken down both You-Know-Who and Albus without taking a single curse yourself, and if he wished to complain maybe he should do it to you in person." She explained with a small smirk on her lips.

"Oh I wish I'd been there to see that." James grinned, happily imagining the scene. He'd definitely have to buy something special for Julia to thank her for that.

"Mr Malfoy is chairman in name only, the rest of the governors know his predilections all too well." Minerva admitted. "I believe your actions in essentially removing Albus from the school have placed him in a dubious position, where you have succeeded in something he has failed to accomplish many times."

"I had my reasons for what I did." James said firmly, not wanting to get into a long debate with Minerva about his grievances with Dumbledore, especially since a lot of the things he'd done, technically he hadn't done yet.

"I am aware," Minerva nodded slowly. "I have also connected Mr Flamel he will be on his way to retrieve his property already. Mr Flamel seemed rather anxious at hearing that Albus had planned to use it to entice You-Know-Who to the school. He informed me he would be removing it and taking it abroad again."

"He didn't know then?" James asked, raising an eyebrow at this information. He'd always assumed that Nicholas Flamel had known about Dumbledore's plan all along.

"Apparently not." Minerva frowned thoughtfully. "He didn't explain his thoughts, and I have no wish to press the matter with him. He indicated his wishes to personally confront Albus on this matter, so I quite happily gave him my blessing to seek out Albus himself."

"Huh," James mused, wondering how he'd missed that before. Though to be honest, when he'd been eleven, he hadn't given the Philosopher's Stone much thought at all, aside from wanting to keep Voldemort away from it. Afterwards, Dumbledore hadn't mentioned it, or Nicholas Flamel, ever again.

"With regards to the school, I will of course be holding classes off from starting officially for today. To give the students time to adjust to these changes, as well as finding a suitable replacement for Severus and myself in the position in Gryffindor house." Minerva explained.

"I'm not staying in the castle though, I've got things to do." James explained firmly.

"James, surely..." Minerva trailed off when James shook his head.

"I'm dealing with Voldemort, I've got Sirius recovering at the manor, and a hundred different things I've got to take care of." James explained bluntly. "That's my priority, Voldemort and Harry. That's it, end of discussion." He said firmly.

"I am sure there must be some arrangement we can come to." Minerva said with a small nod. "Perhaps a room in the castle for you to use when you wish, but I will not stop you from leaving the grounds when you need to. A floo in your rooms to transport you to the manor perhaps? You will need an office here, regardless, a place where the students can come to you when they need, and for you to mark their work."

James grudgingly accepted that that was a mostly reasonable compromise, that way he could stay in the castle to deal with the horcrux in the room of requirement, and the basalisk in the Chamber of Secrets, and destroy the vanishing cabinet while he was at it, and keep an eye on the various idiots in Slytherin that he knew would grow up to be Death Eaters in the future.

"Fine, but I'm still sure this is a mistake." He admitted with a loud sigh.

"Very possibly," Minerva admitted with a wry smile. "But it is one I shall have to forebear if I want to keep the school open." She explained bluntly. "I have also penned a letter to Horace, given this morning's papers and the coverage last night on the wireless, I doubt I shall have to take much time in convincing him to return to take the place of out potions master."

"Andromeda Tonks," James pointed out thoughtfully. "She's a potions master... mistress, whatever." He mused with a shrug. "I bet she'd take the job if you offered."

"You have a problem with Horace?" Minerva asked, narrowing her eyes slightly as she contemplated the idea.

"With how he collects people and trades favours? Absolutely." James said with a shrug. "He's a bottom feeder, he taught Voldemort for years but never came out to fight him. Hell, Voldemort was one of his favourite students." He pointed out with a grimace. "He has a history of hiding away where it's safe instead of stepping up to fight, I wouldn't trust him to defend the students if Voldemort came back, would you?"

Minerva frowned at that, simply staring across at James for a moment before nodding curtly in agreement with his assessment. It was true that Horace hadn't fought in the last war, he hadn't joined Albus' Order or done anything to help, he'd simply hidden away at the school and let the war pass him by.

Andromeda Tonks was certainly a name to consider, and if she did accept, she would come to the school without bringing the bartering of favours or the favouritism that Horace and Severus kept alive in their potions classes and groups.

"I will contact Andromeda and see what she says." Minerva nodded after another moment's thought. "Her daughter finished Hogwarts this summer, I can imagine she's quite thankful that Nymphadora didn't have to see last nights display."

"Probably," James snorted in agreement.

"Regardless, I am certain young Harry will be happy to have you here, as will the other students, and it will assuage many of the fears confronting people this morning." Minerva explained, gesturing back to the pile of letters on her desk.

"Yeah, yeah," James groused with a small smile on his face. "When this goes tits up, you know I'm going to blame you right?"

"Tits..." Minerva echoed, trailing off and glaring at James for his language. "I assure you, it will not." She said firmly. "I am certain you are more than capable of identifying the curse Albus believed was placed on the position?"

"Oh, that." James waved away that concern, he knew exactly what the cursed artifact was in the Defence Classroom, he'd spoken with Minerva about it several times in his past anyway and had always wondered why nobody had examined that giant flying dragon skeleton more closely or learnt anything about it before.

The dragon skeleton was where the curse was entrenched, and also layered with several charms to prevent people from paying too much attention to it or asking too many things about it. Which was the entire reason why most muggle born students didn't look twice at it, which everyone should have noticed as being something strange, given that they were children and literally being confronted with a dragon skeleton in their first few days learning about magic, and then didn't have any questions about it at all.

"Yes, that." Minerva frowned, rolling her eyes at James' antics. "Very well, I will leave you to your day. I will have the curriculum and necessary paperwork drawn up and owled to you, I will make the formal announcement at breakfast tomorrow morning, so please join us for the announcement."

"Fine," James grumbled as he folded up the employment parchments and tucked them away in his inside pocket. "You're going to have to do something about Muggle Studies and History too." He explained bluntly.

"Why?" Minerva asked, cocking an eyebrow at James in a confused manner.

"Muggle Studies is so behind the times it's laughable, I mean that in the best possible way. It's maybe a hundred years out of date, and most of the pure bloods taking the class don't even bother learning anything from it, it's considered a joke course." James explained with a thoughtful shrug. "Of course, it doesn't help that the professors here are all lying to muggle-borns every chance they get, so it's not really any wonder why nearly all of them go back to the muggle world as soon as they can."

"James, I assure you, I have never..."

"Electricity doesn't work around magic." James said bluntly, cutting Minerva off. "Biggest pile of bullshit I've ever heard." He explained, holding up his finger. "Electricity works fine around London, if magic interfered with electricity there'd be giant dark spots around the city where muggles would be investigating the problem until they fixed it. Hell, The Ministry is housed right underneath a muggle building, they don't have a problem there at all. I've been to the MACUSA offices in New York, they actually share a building with muggles, no problem there either." He explained, fixing Minerva with a look. "Every magical school in America has working lights, electricity running through the buildings, lessons on how to use technology so witches and wizards don't stand out with their ignorance and threaten the Statute of Secrecy."

"I don't care who started it, why they do it, or what. It stops. Electricity and magic work fine around each other, it's only pure blood bigots that don't like it, and that's only so they can force muggle-borns to do things their way instead of doing things how they're used to doing them and bringing new ideas into the world."

"James, you have to understand..."

"I understand that you go out to muggle-born homes, and lie to their parents faces. They're trusting you with their children, and you lie to them. You stand there in their homes, and lie to them without even blinking. Honestly, I truly find it disgusting." James said firmly, his face showing exactly how disappointed he was in Minerva, exactly the same as the first time he'd had this conversation with her. "If I spoke to the muggle-born first years now, and their parents, what other lies would I find out about? I know Harry's already made friends with a muggle-born witch, should I ask her? Go and visit her parents and find out the truth?" He asked, waiting until Minerva looked away from him before shaking his head.

"So much for the 'light side' not taking advantage of muggles," He snorted in disgust. "Stop the lies, I don't care if it was Dumbledore's orders or from The Ministry themselves, it stops. I'll be talking to the muggle-borns every chance I get, and the second I hear one hint of a professor lying to them, covering up pure blood bullying or bigotry, I'll take them all out of this school and back to their homes myself, and tell their parents the real truth about the magical world."

"James... that... that could destroy our..."

"I really don't care." James bit out. "I've seen enough brilliant muggle-borns forced out of their magic by pure blood ignorance, bullying and stupidity, I won't be a part of it. If you can't do that, then I'll tear up this contract right now, and me and Harry will be out of this school before lunch time."

He waited for several seconds in silence before he heard Minerva's sigh before she looked up at him and slowly nodded.

"You're putting me in a very difficult position here James." Minerva said softly. "The emphasis on leaving muggleborn technology..."

"Lie, it's a lie, call it what it is." James said firmly.

"It has been a tradition of Hogwarts for many years, long before I was a student here." Minerva explained. "It's a tradition Albus and many other Headmasters have heartily agreed with."

"Well I know for a fact that American schools don't have that problem, so I have to wonder what the muggle-born students would say if I told them that they'd been lied to all their schooling, and that American schools would welcome them with open arms? Hell, America's biggest school was half founded by a muggle, what would they say about that? Going to schools where they didn't have to be worried about pure blood bigotry and bullying, schools that didn't force them to leave everything they knew behind and practically abandon their families?" James asked with a cocked eyebrow. "I'd say you'd lose pretty much every muggle-born student you have within a week, probably ninety percent of the half-blood kids as well by the end of the term." He explained, leaving Minerva just looking at him with a pained expression on her face.

"My point is, I'm not putting up with it, any of it. I've lost too many good friends leaving their magic behind because of this bullshit. Good luck with your letters." James said with a shrug, not bothering to wait for an answer before moving to leave the office and leave Minerva alone with her piles of parchments and howlers to deal with. "Oh, by the way. You do know that Dumbledore stashed Hagrid's Cerberus on the third floor corridor right?"

"Hagrid's... a Cerberus?" Minerva whispered in shock, staring over at where James had paused in the office doorway.

"Yeah, three heads, about fifteen feet tall." James said off hand. "That was his first test around his little traps, a big three headed guard dog." He explained with a laugh. "Hagrid can probably help you with it."

"I'm sure he will." Minerva whispered to herself, wondering if Albus had gone completely crazy somewhere along the line and she just hadn't realised. "A Cerberus? Really Albus?" She muttered to herself in disbelief as James walked out of the office, leaving her to consider his words along with what other dangerous creatures or artifacts Albus had squirrelled away in the school without her knowledge.


	13. Chapter 13

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Department of Magical Law Enforcement **

**Ministry of Magic**

**London **

"Amelia?"

Amelia groaned to herself at yet another interruption as she looked up from her desk, fighting the urge to send a curse or hex towards the door when she spotted Cornelius Fudge standing in the doorway for the second time today, looking towards her expectantly.

"Minister, what can I do for you?" Amelia asked, plastering her best pleasant smile across her face as she inwardly considered slamming head head down onto her desk.

"Ahem, well, I am just coming down to inform you I have authorised the DMLE budget to be returned back to it's war footing, you are authorised to double auror recruitment as soon as you see fit." Cornelius explained as he came into the office.

"That'll be a great help," Amelia nodded thankfully, making a mental note to head over to the auror academy when she got chance to take a look at the new recruits.

"I've received several visitors already calling for Albus Dumbledore's removal from the Wizengamot post, I assume you and James will be calling for the same?" Cornelius prompted.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the fact that he was trying to refer to James like he was an old friend, Amelia simply nodded along. "Both his position as Chief Warlock and his position at the ICW." She explained firmly. "That man has caused enough problems for our world, he needs to be removed from all positions of authority as quickly as possible."

"Yes, yes, of course." Cornelius blustered quickly. "I'm just letting you know that I'll be calling for a vote in tomorrow's session, I'm certain it will pass without complaint."

"More than likely," Amelia nodded in agreement. Everything that had come out last night had utterly damaged Albus Dumbledore's reputation beyond repair. Only his most sycophantic supporters would be trying to defend his actions, and even if they all collected together they couldn't hope to have enough numbers to vote against the swell of witches and wizards that were outraged by his actions.

"Will... erm... will James be coming by any time soon?" Cornelius asked hopefully.

"Probably," Amelia admitted, seeing how Cornelius' eyes lit up at the news. "He's got a lot on at the moment hunting down Voldemort, but I'm sure I can convince him to drop by now and again. He's been spending a lot of time with Sirius as well, helping him adjust to life outside of Azkaban again, you know how it is."

"Wonderful, wonderful." Cornelius smiled widely at that news. "I had heard Minerva was going to offer him the Defence post at Hogwarts, simply a wonderful idea I thought. It would do the country well to know a man like James is defending their children in these perilous times."

"I'm sure," Amelia chuckled, wondering what James would actually say when being faced with that offer from Minerva.

"Does... does James have any further thoughts on how we are going to deal with Lord Thingie?" Cornelius asked nervously.

"Our first issue is bringing the Auror force back up to fighting strength," Amelia said. She's planned everything out with James several times and gone over multiple plans with him, so she had quite a plethora of ideas to draw from, from both their ideas and his future memories. "I'm also going to be instituting honour oaths from our Aurors, to prevent them from being subjugated by outside interferences and bribes. After what happened in the last war, nobody wants... You-Know-Who to get a foothold in The Ministry this time."

"No, no, obviously not." Cornelius said quickly, nodding in agreement with Amelia's suggestion.

"I'll be performing regular sweeps of The Ministry, checking over the portkey offices, the floo regulation department, everywhere really and making sure the people here are loyal to the law, not to You-Know-Who." Amelia explained. "I'd like to take oaths from the other department heads as well, magical contracts as well if I could get away with it."

"Yes, yes, excellent plan." Cornelius nodded firmly. "Magical contracts to seal their loyalty to The Ministry as long as they work here. I can have something written up immediately."

"Probably better to get a proper legal team on it," Amelia commented, visibly surprised that Cornelius was willing to go along with the idea. "Something to make sure our people are loyal to The Ministry and to the law, not to any names in particular. That'll help stop anyone from playing both sides or spying on The Ministry. I've already penned in a meeting to speak with The Unspeakables about a detection charm to identify someone being possessed. Since we know now that You-Know-Who is capable of it, it's something we'll have to watch out for."

"Quite, yes, I'll have it authorised immediately." Cornelius said with a flustered smile. "Do let me know when James is coming through, I would love to hear his thoughts on the upcoming measures."

"I'm sure he'll be very happy with what you're doing so far," Amelia smiled up, giving Cornelius her best prideful expression as she watched him head out of her office before she dropped the expression and rolled her eyes.

She hadn't actually expected Cornelius to fold like that so quickly, though thinking about it, now Cornelius knew Sirius and James were talking, with both the Black and Potter fortunes together, and her own influence, she could very well see how it looked compared to simply having Lucius Malfoy whispering in his ear.

She allowed herself a small smile as she realised that the Black and Potter fortunes combined dwarfed the Malfoy fortune, and James' publicity was higher than ever after last night. Throwing that in with how the public saw Sirius after his wrongful imprisonment, and how the old pure blood families had rallied around him, and it made the two of them together a rather attractive option for politicians like Cornelius.

Yes, having Cornelius pay attention to James and Sirius would definitely be far more preferable to having Lucius Malfoy whispering in his ear, and she was certain James would be laughing his arse off when she told him about how Cornelius had practically given her everything she'd wanted without even being prodded in the right direction.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

James had to grin to himself as he happily walked out of the Room of Requirement with his mission complete. He had the Ravenclaw Diadem secured in a moleskin bag ready to be destroyed tonight, he'd retrieved the invisibility cloak that Dumbledore had kept from his office, and would secure it away when he got back to the manor.

He'd also managed to destroy the vanishing cabinet in the room as well, taking care of that with a few well placed blasting curses that rendered the cabinet down to barely more than kindling and firewood.

Now he had two complete sets of the Deathly Hallows to work with, which gave him a definite edge just in case anything did happen to the wand or cloak that he kept with him.

Minerva convincing him to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts was a bit out of the blue, but as he thought about it, he actually didn't mind the idea too much at all. He didn't particularly want to go back to being an Auror, in his own time it had been annoying enough, and downright disheartening at times to see guilty wizards and witches being let free because of bribes and family connections on the Wizengamot, so he had no real interest in looking to reestablish himself to work in that cesspit of corruption.

Teaching at Hogwarts would definitely allow him to keep an eye on things, and he could always make a copy of the communication mirrors Sirius and his father had used, and use them to keep in touch with Amelia and Sirius and plan things out.

In fact, teaching at Hogwarts might actually be the better idea. If he was away from the manor more, maybe it would give Sirius the push he needed to get off of his arse and move on with his life instead of hanging onto the past and refusing to let go.

It would certainly make keeping an eye on the younger version of himself easier, and he could watch out for Susan and Daphne at the same time, while dealing with any problems that cropped up because of his changes.

Musing it over he tucked the mokeskin bag containing the horcrux into his outer pocket, knowing from past experience that the thick outside pockets of the dragon-skin coat were enough to contain most cursed items, at least for short periods of time, so they should be able to handle a bagged up horcrux for a few hours anyway.

Walking away from the seventh floor corridor he waited just long enough to see the doorway into the room shimmer and vanish into the brick wall, leaving behind no evidence that it had ever been there in the first place. That was one secret he was going to keep to himself for now, as the room provided a secure room that he could exploit later on to keep the students safe if things did go tits up again.

He smiled to himself as he walked past the various students on his way down to the Serpentine Corridor on the third floor, smiling over at their awed looks and hushed whispers as they darted out of his way on the stairs and let him pass.

It was very reminiscent of how the world had treated him in the weeks after the battle at Hogwarts that had resulted in Voldemort's final defeat. Of course, back then he was still worn and disillusioned with everything so he'd happily just blanked everyone and preferred to stay alone until Hermione had finally dragged him out of his self imposed exile and back into the world.

Walking into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom he was actually happy that Voldemort, Quirrell, whatever, had been using a temporary classroom on the ground floor instead, as it meant that the actual Defence classroom hadn't been saturated with the pungent smell of garlic.

Thinking about it now, he was certain that Voldemort had moved the class to the temporary classroom himself, not to keep out of Dumbledore's way on the forbidden corridor, as either of them could easily have blocked off the corridor to prevent students from finding the Cerberus guarded room, but simply so that Voldemort didn't have to worry about the curse that he'd put on the room so many years ago.

Sending a blasting curse towards the various chains holding the dragon skeleton up was easy enough before he slowly levitated the skeleton down to the ground. A shrinking charm reduced it down to a hand held size on the floor of the classroom so he could approach it, smirking down as he felt the curse inside the skeleton battling against his charms.

"Easy enough." He commented off hand, bringing his boot down on the skeleton and shattering it under foot before vanishing the remains with his wand once he was sure the curse had been broken with the destruction of the skeleton.

Voldemort had a thing for latching curses onto important or historical artefact's, and he likely knew that no respectable teacher would ever defile the precious dragon skeleton that was rumoured to have guarded Hogwarts during it's founding years.

He, of course, had absolutely no worries at all about destroying the skeleton if it meant keeping the school safe. He hadn't worried about the precious artifacts Voldemort had used in his horcruxes the first time around, and he certainly wasn't about to start now.

With that done he idly cast a few detection charms around the room, making sure he hadn't missed anything in his usual blunt way of dealing with things. He was certain that Voldemort hadn't planned anything else while he was here possessing Quirrell the first time around, aside from cursing his broom of course, which wasn't going to happen this time.

When his detection charms came up negative, he shrugged to himself and happily leaned against a desk as he looked around the room and mused on it for a moment. Teaching actually wasn't going to be too bad in his eyes now that he thought about it. He'd certainly enjoyed helping other students out in his Hogwarts years with the formation of Dumbledore's Army, and he'd helped Teddy out with some tutoring more than a few times over the years.

"Professor Potter," He smirked to himself as he tried the title out, confessing that he actually liked the sound of it quite a lot strangely enough, it certainly sounded better to him than Auror Potter ever had.

Maybe Minerva had actually known what she was doing after all.

* * *

**Godrics Hollow **

**North of Cornwall **

**Devon **

Albus Dumbledore groaned to himself as he settled back in his chair, with Severus Snape sitting across from him at his table in the old cottage.

After leaving Hogwarts, he'd had to return to his old family cottage which had definitely seen better days, and had been left deserted for many years now since he'd been living at the school since attaining the position of headmaster.

"It was James bloody Potter." Severus said bluntly, bringing out a bottle of whiskey and placing it on the table in front of them both. "I'm certain of it."

Albus merely frowned in response at that, but couldn't deny Severus accusation. The man had known things that only James Potter could have known. The cloak, his wand, the Potter Vault key that he'd taken from Potter's Cottage, and how he'd taken young Harry from Sirius after that terrible night.

No, he had to admit, it must have been James Potter. There was nobody else that could have known those things, and even all the detection charms he'd cast had told him exactly the same thing, it was no disguise, it was James Potter that had confronted him in the Great Hall.

"And Voldemort has returned, as I suspected." Albus said with a sigh, remembering very clearly how James had oh so easily dispatched Voldemort. Even he hadn't realised that Voldemort had been possessing poor Quirinus, a fact that had been thrown in his face when the deception had come out with The Minister and the media watching in horror.

"Potter will be with Black, you know it." Severus growled, opening the bottle of whiskey and swallowing a mouthful. "That's why we couldn't find him or the brat. They'll be hidden behind a Fidelius somewhere."

"Almost assuredly," Albus nodded, agreeing with the point. Sirius would have been with James, it certainly made sense and explained what had happened to young Harry as well.

What didn't make sense was everything else. If James had survived that night, why had he left Harry with the Dursley's for so long before rescuing him? Why had he left Sirius in Azkaban for so long? Why hide away instead of letting everyone know he had survived and Voldemort had failed?

Surely the most important question though was how James Potter had defeated Quirrell so easily in their duel. He'd quite literally had a front row seat to it and had seen Quirrell's face turn to ash as it came in contact with James' fists. That was what was puzzling him, how James Potter was somehow protected against Voldemort's touch when he was certain that that protection should only be around young Harry.

The only answer he could think of was that Lily's sacrificial protection was covering them both, making the question of James' identity completely irrelevant as that sort of magic could only have latched on to someone that shared blood with young Harry, which meant that James' identity was all but confirmed to anyone who knew the truth about what had protected Harry that fateful night.

He had far too many questions, and the only person that could answer them was James Potter, and his threat about duelling him properly the next time they saw each other was certainly forefront in his mind.

He'd left the invisibility cloak in his old office as an olive branch really, while the urge was to take it with him out of spite, the knowledge that James now controlled the Elder Wand and would very likely come after him if he had taken it was enough to stay his hand.

James had known about the Elder Wand. He'd known he was descended from the Peverell brothers, and now he had both the wand and the cloak, making him far more powerful than Albus could ever hope to be. Confronting James now would be suicide, as despite his prestigious reputation, he was never the great wizard he always let people believe he was.

James Potter on the other hand had duelled and forced Voldemort away several times in the past, defying him on multiple occasions, and that was before he'd taken the Elder Wand for his own. He was a trained Auror, and ruthless in duels, an attitude he saw very well when he'd tried to prevent the truth from coming out in the great hall at Hogwarts.

That wasn't even mentioning the fact that during their rather one sided duel, James had managed to defend himself utterly perfectly, swatting away spells and shielding himself like a master, even though he'd been using the Elder Wand to attack him.

That was a very worrying notion that he hadn't been able to get out of his head, and meant that James was actually far more powerful than he had originally believed, and now with the Elder Wand in his possession, his power would be far beyond anything he could hope to equal.

James could be a rather spiteful man at times, Lily had tempered his rage over the years to where he was quickly becoming a good man, but there had still been times when James had let his spite control him. Now though, where in school those spiteful urges had been turned to vicious bullying and 'pranking' other students, and without Lily around to temper his fury, he could very easily see James turning those urges into something entirely more magically violent in turn to protect his son.

"Your plan?" Severus drawled out, staring across the table at Albus and cocking his eyebrow up when Albus remained silent. "You don't have one?" He demanded in disbelief.

"Alas, no." Albus admitted with a sigh. "James has rather effectively removed me from Hogwarts, my influence and reputation is not what it was. I have heard word that I will be removed from the Wizengamot tomorrow, and likely my position as Supreme Mugwump will be stripped as well."

"More than likely," Severus grunted in agreement. As much as he hated to admit it, the way Potter had manipulated events had been rather masterful. With The Minister watching, and live coverage from the Wireless network, nobody could deny that Voldemort had returned or that he'd effectively dealt with him, and likewise everyone heard his accusations against Albus and the rather ineffectual excuses Albus had given for his actions.

Even the Daily Prophet had apparently been in attendance and had written a decidedly cutting article about Albus, dashing his reputation down even further and reducing his loyal followers to a smattering of friends. With further articles going over every word Voldemort had said, horrifyingly confirming his time as a Death Eater as well, leaving him with no place left to turn other than the other Death Eaters or Albus.

He was also entirely certain that Potter's friendship with the Bones woman was the cause of the Weasley matriarch's arrest and problems. That was something that had actually made him smile until he'd pieced together that Potter had to be behind it somehow. He must have known that Albus would try and integrate the brat in with the Weasleys, and had Bones station Aurors around the platform to watch for her.

In a single day, Potter had negated the Weasley's entirely, driven Albus and himself from Hogwarts, publicly revealed Voldemort's survival to the world, and ensured that they all looked upon him like some sort of saviour for everything he'd done.

If it hadn't been Potter, he would have actually been impressed by the cunning and ruthless way things had been planned.

"Alastor? Kingsley? Approaching the Bones woman would be the best way. She will be able to put us in touch with Potter." Severus admitted grudgingly.

"Alastor refused to come," Albus frowned. "He was rather annoyed that I allowed Voldemort to sneak into the school without noticing, something I cannot blame him for sadly. He has argued with me about my views on forgiveness several times in the past, particularly my insistence on keeping you in the school. I fear with Voldemort's public admittance that you were under his banner, Alastor was rather scathing in his remarks about you and my choice to protect and employ you at Hogwarts, this latest incident may have damaged our friendship beyond repair."

Severus frowned at that, but conceded the point. Mad-Eye was a vicious and paranoid old bastard who certainly wouldn't have been fooled by a possession. Having Voldemort unmasked in front of Albus and hundreds of people simply made Albus look like an blind old fool who'd put children at risk, so he could well understand why Alastor was annoyed with him for it. "I never understood why you didn't have Mad-Eye at the castle anyway to keep an eye on the stone," Severus muttered, shaking his head at the thought.

"Kingsley has a working relationship with Amelia, I am certain he will be able to speak to her on our behalf and arrange a meeting with James." Albus explained patiently, diverting the conversation away from that discussion.

The fact was, he hadn't wanted Alastor at the school because his old friend was certainly smart enough to realise that the traps he had had built around the stone were ineffective at best, and little more than distractions for a wizard of Voldemort's calibre. But then, they weren't supposed to keep Voldemort out, they were supposed to be as a test for young Harry, something Alastor would have spotted and reasoned out almost immediately.

"A meeting I certainly will not be attending." Severus indicated bluntly. "Potter made his feelings towards me clear ten years ago when he threatened my life after you revealed how Voldemort knew about the prophecy to Lily. I am not suicidal enough to tempt fate a second time by walking into the dragon's mouth." He explained with a sneer. "If you wish to give him the pleasure of cursing you into oblivion for your actions, feel free, but I will not be a part of it."

Albus simply sighed at that, admitting to himself that yes, James Potter had more than enough reasons to curse the both of them for what they had both done, and he was a man that didn't have much forgiveness in him originally. After everything that they had done to ensure Harry was kept subdued and pliable, it was entirely likely that James had enough righteous anger in him to kill the both of them without losing a wink of sleep over it.

The worst part was, with how the public were treating him now and after the public announcement of the prophecy, it was entirely likely that James could execute the both of them in full view of Diagon Alley, and the public would just cheer him on.

Which left him with very little in the way of choices. His reputation was in tatters, his influence was practically gone, and his popularity had wained to levels even Argus Filtch would be hard pressed to match. His positions were being stripped from him, and several of his manipulations and plans had been brought to light in the worst possible way.

He couldn't approach the Potters without very likely being cursed senseless, and now the entire world knew Voldemort was alive and that Harry Potter was the one prophesied to vanquish him, an act James had helped along by quite publicly beating him out of Quirinus' body.

All of which left him entirely sidelined and practically ostracised from the public view, feeling useless and rather dejected at how badly everything had gone wrong.

The fact was, every single one of his plans had relied on Harry Potter being alone, isolated, ignorant of his place in the world, ignorant of wizarding society, and reliant on him to guide him towards his destiny to face Voldemort and sacrifice himself for the good of the wizarding world.

Harry Potter, as he'd so woefully found out, was none of these things. He had his father, and he had undoubtedly been raised with knowledge of the wizarding world and what it meant to be a Potter, and there was absolutely no chance of him getting any where near Harry without an angry James coming after him with righteous fury.

Today was most certainly one of the top ten worst days of Albus Dumbledore's life, and he had a terrible feeling that things were only going to get worse.

* * *

**Potter Manor**

**Honley**

"James?"

"Kitchen!" James called back, recognising the sound of Amelia's voice instantly as he heard the floo flare up. "Bad day?" He asked, spotting the weary look on Amelia's face as she came into the kitchen.

"Hectic," Amelia admitted, smiling as she watched James pour her out a glass of wine. "Thank you." She smiled, accepting the glass. "Yours?"

"Destroyed the diadem and the horcrux stuck in it, got rid of the curse in the Defence classroom, you know, destroying Voldemort's plans, being a pain in the arse to him, the usual," James shrugged. "Minerva wants me to take over the Defence position."

"I had heard," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "You're going to take it?"

"I wasn't," James sighed, sitting down at the kitchen table. "But Minerva is convinced they'll end up closing the school if I don't. She had a pile of howlers on her desk higher than I've ever seen, I had no idea that would happen."

"People are angry, and afraid." Amelia explained as she sat down beside him at the table. "Angry at everything Albus had done, angry he put their children in danger, and afraid that Voldemort is going to attack the school and their children." She pointed out.

"Minerva said pretty much the same thing," James frowned thoughtfully. "She said she'll activate the floo in the Defence quarters so I can come and go from the school whenever I want."

"Handy," Amelia nodded. "It would give you a position at the school to keep an eye on things as well. Not to mention that it's entirely likely Voldemort will turn his eye to the school again when he realises his horcruxes are being destroyed."

"Point," James conceded with a nod. "You think I should take it then?"

"I'd be foolish not to," Amelia countered. "With you there keeping an eye on things, Susan will be a lot safer than if you were out chasing down horcruxes with Sirius."

"There aren't any more," James sighed, ruffling his hair as he thought things through. "The Slytherin necklace thing is at Grimmauld, Sirius can get to that any time he wants. The Diary is somewhere at Malfoy Manor at the moment, I think, I never really knew how long Malfoy had that before second year, so there's nothing I can really do about that one, and the cup is in the Gringotts vaults."

"I'm working on getting a meeting with the Gringotts director, hopefully we'll be able to do something about that one once I have a better relationship with the goblins." Amelia explained.

"Good luck there," James snorted, shaking his head as he tried to picture how that would go.

"Cornelius came by," Amelia said with a small shrug. "He's aware of our relationship now."

"Oh?" James raised an eyebrow at that. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" He asked curiously.

"Neither, both?" Amelia frowned thoughtfully. "He appears to be taking Voldemort's return seriously, he doubled my budget and authorised magical oaths for the Aurors, along with enforced contracts for all The Ministry department heads."

"That... that's surprising?" James admitted, his face showing the amount of shock he felt at that announcement.

"I won't deny that it's probably your influence," Amelia admitted with a small smile. "Lucius left The Ministry after their meeting and hasn't been seen all day, and Cornelius came by my office just to talk several times."

"He's looking at you to support him in this mess then?" James nodded thoughtfully. "Malfoy probably saw where Fudge was looking already and decided to cut his losses."

"That's likely," Amelia confirmed James' thoughts. "With Albus and Lucius being away from him, he needs someone else popular to attach himself to so he can continue thinking he's with the in crowd. He knows about our relationship, and probably thinks he can attach himself to me before anyone else finds out about it."

"And?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And I'm thinking of using it to push through some of the reforms that could help us in our endeavours." Amelia admitted with a sly smile. "Pushing through for more security over The Ministry to prevent Voldemort from taking control, and neutralising some of the laws around muggle-borns and slowly working on making it so the laws are equal to all."

"Good luck with that," James grinned over. "No, seriously, good luck with it. If I can help with that, just let me know."

"Another thing that was brought to my attention, young Neville Longbottom?" Amelia asked, looking to James now to see his reaction.

"Neville?" James frowned. "What's happened with him?"

"Nothing that I'm aware of, though I did have a visit from Augusta demanding to know why Neville's godfather hadn't been in touch with him." Amelia pointed out with a subtle smirk as she watched his reaction.

"Godfa..." James trailed off, recognising what Amelia was saying. "My dad was Neville's godfather?" He asked in shock.

"Apparently so," Amelia nodded back. "You didn't know?"

"No, no... he never said." James whispered, not having expected that at all.

"He might have found it hard to bring up, especially since your father couldn't be there for you." Amelia pointed out with a reassuring smile.

"Maybe," James whispered. "She wants me to get in touch with Neville then?" He asked, honestly wondering why Neville had never mentioned anything like that.

"You're going to have to," Amelia explained with a nod. "If you're taking on James' identity, then his responsibilities come along with it."

"That..." James sighed, ruffling his hair. "I didn't know... Neville's godfather." He admitted with a sigh. "Of course I'll do it, Neville was a good friend, I owe him a hell of a lot more than just this." He explained with a firm nod to himself.

"I assumed you would," Amelia smiled over. "I did have a rather interesting conversation with Julia as well." She added with a small smirk. "She mentioned the thought of making a Bones, Greengrass and Potter alliance a formal thing."

James simply blinked at that, looking at Amelia for an explanation. "I lived with muggles for my childhood, and Hogwarts doesn't exactly have a pure blood traditions class." He pointed out. "I'm guessing the 'formal' part of that sentence means something, so, English please?"

"You're aware that if I married, I couldn't take the husbands name? Very much like other witches who want to carry on their families name but are the last of their line?" Amelia explained.

"Yeah, you mentioned something about a line continuance thing that you didn't want Susan to be stuck with." James nodded in agreement.

"Julia surprisingly doesn't have that problem," Amelia pointed out. "She intends to let the Greengrass family name die off with her. Once Daphne and Astoria are married, the Greengrass name will effectively become extinct."

"OK?" James asked. "Sorry, what's this got to do with me and this formal alliance thing?"

"I'm getting to that," Amelia grumbled, swiping James' shoulder for his impatience. "Julia mentioned a formal alliance, now formal alliances are normally made between families when they get married, a bride and groom coming together to bring the family into an alliance."

"Alright?" James frowned thoughtfully, not getting what Amelia was saying.

"Julia mentioned a formal alliance with us." Amelia pointed out bluntly. "Both of us." She explained, watching for that moment when James' eyes widened and he finally caught on to what she was saying.

"She wants to date us? Marry us? Both of us?" James asked in shock.

"It was an idea she mentioned in a conversation," Amelia admitted. "If we got married, I wouldn't be able to take the Potter name. So any children we had would be Bones children to continue on the line."

"Aren't we taking this a bit fast?" James asked quickly. "We've only... you know, just over a month?"

"Which is why we are just talking about things now," Amelia pointed out. "I won't deny the idea is an attractive one, it would not only make our alliance public and give us a reputation on the Wizengamot, but it would also keep Susan, Daphne and Astoria safe as they would quite literally be under your protection as part of your family. A betrothal contract after this period of time is quite normal for the magical world, especially in situations like ours. I understand you didn't grow up with these traditions, but it would be quite normal for a couple to discuss something like this after their first month together."

"I didn't even know it was legal to marry two people," James muttered, ruffling his hair as he tried to work out exactly how this conversation had got to this point. "I've never even heard of it before."

"It's rare, but it does happen from time to time." Amelia smiled as she explained. "Line Continuance options come up now and again, where a witch needs to continue her family line but wants to be married. It's the sort of thing Susan would be pushed into if I married anyone and took their name." She said with a nod. "It's happened a few times since the last war, mostly between witches who already know each other and can retain their friendships while being married to the same wizard. I'm sure you can imagine how much of a nightmare it could be if they couldn't?"

"So you'd do this to keep Susan from having to do it?" James asked curiously.

"I won't deny that that is part of it," Amelia admitted. "But also the idea of you, Julia and myself together is quite an attractive thought it itself." She explained with a small smirk. "Come now, you are aware I've had witches as lovers in the past?" She pointed out, laughing at James' stunned expression.

"Knew about them, yeah, you mentioned them, but knowing is one thing, being offered... that's something else." James admitted, rubbing his forehead as he tried desperately not to think about Amelia and Julia doing rather delicious things together.

"As I said, it's just something we are discussing right now," Amelia explained with a laugh at the stunned expression on James' face. "It would take some of the pressure off of me from the traditional families, align our three families together formally, and help protect Susan, Julia, Daphne and Astoria."

"It's really something you want to consider?" James asked, surprised at how serious Amelia was being about this entire thing.

"I wouldn't have brought it up otherwise." Amelia said, leaning in to steal a kiss from James. "Do you think it's something you could consider? Marrying two witches?"

"I don't even know Julia that well." James pointed out. "We've had one conversation, that's it."

"Something that we can rectify, inviting her for a meal together this week?" Amelia suggested.

"You're serious?" James muttered, rubbing his head. "I never even thought I'd get married, now... a three way marriage?" He whispered in shock. "Would it really help you and Julia?"

"More than you would know," Amelia admitted with a nod. "I'm sure Sirius can explain the particulars of the tradition to you if you really want."

"And put up with his jokes about threesomes and sex advice?" James groused, shaking his head. "No thanks." He muttered in reply to Amelia's laugh.

"Where is the dog anyway?" Amelia asked, recognising that she'd been able to have an entirely serious conversation with James without any of Sirius' inane jokes or sarcastic comments.

"No idea," James muttered, shaking his head. "We went to destroy the bones in the graveyard, after that I headed up to Hogwarts. He wasn't here when I got back, so he could be anywhere."

"We have the manor to ourselves then?" Amelia asked, her smirk coming back in full force now.

"For now," James pointed out. "I'll have to head to Hogwarts in the morning, Minerva wants to announce my position there at breakfast."

"I'm in the Wizengamot tomorrow morning too," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "But I have been having some rather naughty thoughts about that big bath of yours and what we could do in there."

"Oh?" James grinned, raising his eyebrow as Amelia leaned forwards and shuffled off of her chair and over onto his lap, straddling him as she leaned down for a long and sensual kiss.

"Oh yes," Amelia grinned down. "And now the kids have gone, and yes, I'm including Sirius in that," She pointed out with a laugh. "I have you all to myself tonight."

"Sounds fun," James grinned up, happily starting to kiss up Amelia's neck and lick along her collar bone.

"Hmmm," Amelia moaned, enjoying the attention for now. "Bath mister, I have some rather dirty ideas that we will need the space for." She grinned, leaning back from his kisses before forwards again to capture his lips in a kiss, biting down on his bottom lip until he groaned in pleasure.

"Yes mistress," James grinned up at her as she stood up from his lap, grabbing hold of his t-shirt to lead him out of the kitchen and upstairs to the main bathroom to enjoy the rest of the night together.


	14. Chapter 14

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**3rd September**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

James couldn't help the grin on his face as he floo'ed through to Hogwarts that morning, after a searing kiss from Amelia to send him on his way.

Last night had been rather spectacular if he did say so himself, they'd both enjoyed having the manor all to themselves, and had quite thoroughly enjoyed the space in the main bathroom, practising sexual positions that he'd never even attempted before, though a lot of the time had ended up returning to a female dominant sixty-nine position so he could pleasure Amelia while enjoying her teeth sinking into his erection.

It had been an absolutely fantastic night, and morning too, which had left him in a great mood to start the day as he made his way to the school.

"Ah, James, I had expected you to be late." Minerva looked up from her desk with a wry smile.

"I said I'd be here," James shrugged as he made his way over to the headmistress' desk and unceremoniously flomped down into the spare chair in front of it. "No more howlers?" He asked with a smirk, eyeing the clean desk.

"Thankfully not," Minerva frowned over at him. "I did take your suggestion however and spoke with Andromeda yesterday, she was happy to accept the position and is already downstairs waiting for us."

"That was quick," James frowned thoughtfully, ruffling his messy hair and wondering why Andromeda had accepted the position so quickly.

"She apparently had an argument with her daughter yesterday morning," Minerva explained. "Young Nymphadora is apparently set on joining the Aurors from what I've been told, something Andromeda is rather set against after hearing that You-Know-Who has returned."

"Ah," James nodded, making a mental note of that to let Amelia know.

"Septima has fully taken over the responsibilities of Slytherin house," Minerva explained thoughtfully. "I had hoped you would do the same with Gryffindor house, but your instance on having time to deal with... You-Know-Who... while understandable and something that does you credit, rather makes that a difficult situation." She mused aloud. "Aurora has agreed to take the position for now, but I suspect it will not be a permanent position for her."

James simply nodded at that, accepting what he was being told. He was happy to take the teaching position for now, but certainly wouldn't be taking on any other responsibilities when his first priority was to deal with Voldemort.

"The students should be making their way to breakfast already, shall we?" Minerva asked, standing up from her desk and gesturing for James to do the same. "I admit, I failed to ask last night due to... well, how awkward it sounds." She said softly as she stood in the quiet of the office. "May I ask, Lily?" She asked hopefully.

James simply shook his head at that, not trust his voice to say anything about his dead mother. He could impersonate his father, but talking about his mother when he didn't know anything about her would be the most awkward thing in the world for him.

"I see," Minerva nodded. "It was a miracle you and Harry survived that night, I only wish Lily could have done so as well." She said softly. "Albus was certain it was her sacrifice that allowed Harry to survive, I might assume the same for you then." She mused, resting her hand on James' shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sure she's proud of you James, and watching over you, you and Harry."

James just nodded, feeling exceedingly cruel in pretending to be James Potter right now and lying to Minerva like this.

Without saying another word Minerva walked to the door, leading them both down from the headmistresses office and into the school itself and then through the corridors towards the great hall.

It was an awkward and subdued silence that hung in their air as they walked, neither of them wanting to say anything more about Lily and what had happened that night, but both of them feeling too awkward to change the subject to anything else.

By the time they'd made their way to the great hall, it was full of students talking loudly amongst themselves and chatting away happily, though a wave of silenced rushed through the hall as the students spotted him walking in alongside Minerva and the entire hall quickly fell silent in anticipation.

The first thing James noticed was that Dumbledore's god awful golden throne had been removed from the teachers table, leaving Minerva with the same seat as everyone else at the table, and judging from the way the rest of the professors were seated, it was a change they all approved of.

"Good morning students." Minerva announced as she approached the middle of the teachers platform. "I have a few announcements to make this morning, but you may all be assured, classes will begin today on schedule."

There was a few groans at that that echoed through the halls, but a few approving comments as well, mostly from the Ravenclaw tables and the upper years.

"Professor Vector has proudly taken the position of Head of Slytherin House, replacing Severus Snape who resigned two days ago." Minerva said firmly, raising her voice over the celebratory cheers that came from three quarters of the student population. "Professor Andromeda Tonks has graciously joined us in the position of Potions Mistress, and will be teaching all seven years of Potions." She explained, gesturing to the side where Andromeda stood up to applause from the students, with quite loud applause coming from the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables in response to that. "And Professor Sinestra will be taking over my responsibilities as Head of Gryffindor." She explained to some more applause from the Gryffindor table.

"Our final staff changes this year will not come as a surprise to many of you," Minerva announced with a dry laugh. "Filius Flitwick will be taking over as Deputy Headmaster, while retaining his position as Head of Ravenclaw. His new office is on the Fourth floor, so you will be able to find him there instead of in his previous office in the West Tower." With that she paused, waiting for the applause and cheering from the Ravenclaw table to die down before she continued. "It also gives my great pride to announce that James Potter has accepted the position teaching the Defence Against the Dark Arts class." She explained to school wide applause as James stood up with a wide grin.

The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables were easily the loudest, clapping and yelling their approval loudly enough for it to echo around the great hall.

"Yes, yes, we are all happy to have such a prestigious member of our community joining the faculty," Professor McGonagall shouted, waiting for the cheering to go down before she continued when everyone was starting to sit down again. "Professor Potter will be teaching all seven years of Defence Against the Dark Arts, and as I'm sure you are all aware from the interruptions during the sorting ceremony, has a rather unique and valorous background in the subject, so I hope you will all give him the same respect and acknowledgement he deserves in his classroom and learn all you can from him." She said firmly, making sure everyone got the message.

"Now, onto further business. Firstly, bullying is not acceptable here by anyone. For those who do not know my zero tolerance stance on the matter, the first infraction will be a warning, along with a notice mailed to your parents informing them of the occurrence. The second infraction will see you suspended for a week and sent home from Hogwarts for the duration. The third, will end in your expulsion. Is that clear?" She asked, looking around the hall to make sure all the students, new and old, understood the rules.

"Anyone caught bullying another student or causing harm with unfriendly curses or hexes, regardless of house affiliation, will be subject to an investigation and if needed, the Aurors will be called to deal with the student, depending on the severity of the case in question. This is a school, not a battlefield, is that understood?" Minerva said sternly. "Punishments may have been lax in the past, but rest assured, under my tenure, that will no longer be the case."

There was quite a bit of murmuring a chatter after that announcement, and James watched as quite a few of the Slytherin tables frowned and whispered amongst themselves unhappily.

"Classes will begin at nine am," Minerva announced before looking around the students. "You all have your time tables already, so I expect to hear that you have all started your school year with enthusiasm, if a day late." She explained with a small smile. "With that said, I will allow you to continue on with your breakfast."

After that she sat down, favouring James with a smile as she gestured for him and Andromeda to take their seats alongside her.

"Andromeda Tonks," Andromeda introduced herself, smiling across to James. "I've been told I have you to thank for Minerva talking me into this?"

"Possibly," James admitted with a wry chuckle. "Just a headsup though, in Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom might have problems in your class."

"Oh?" Andromeda frowned as Minerva gasped, catching on to what James was saying.

"His parents... they were tortured by Bellatrix." James pointed out in a whisper so only Andromeda could hear him. "And since you look..."

"Almost identical to my sister," Andromeda nodded, understanding what James was saying. "Thank you for the warning."

"I'll have a chat with him," James nodded reassuringly. "Just don't be surprised if he's a bit quiet or off until he comes to terms with it." He said softly.

"No, not at all." Andromeda smiled softly. "Are you going to be alright bringing it up with him?"

"He's my godson," James explained with a small shrug. "I should be the one to do it. It's my fault you're here anyway."

"Entirely," Andromeda admitted with a laugh. "I was listening to the wireless that covered your confrontation with You-Know-Who, I'll admit, I was rather happy that you took the position here to keep the students safe."

"I got conned into it," James groused mockingly with a wink towards Minerva.

"You most certainly did not," Minerva shot back with a wry smile on her lips. "I rather like to think of it as it simply being an aggressive interview for employment."

"Bullied into it," James confessed with a smirk that saw both Andromeda and Filius laugh in response. "I should steal Neville away before classes anyway." He explained, looking down to the Gryffindor tables to where Neville was nervously eating and glancing up at the teachers table every now and again. "He's going to need a talk before he walks into class and sees you there."

"Of course," Minerva nodded, giving her consent to the talk as James stood up from the teachers table.

Walking down from the teachers platform he could feel every eye on him as he approached the Gryffindor tables, smiling to himself as he recognised all the young faces that were looking up at him in awed silence. "Neville?" He asked quietly, coming to stand behind Neville. "Want to take a walk?" He asked quietly.

"S... sure Professor Potter." Neville stammered out, standing up from the Gryffindor tables nervously.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble." James chuckled, looking down at how small Neville looked standing next to him. "Come on, we'll head outside for a bit before your classes start." He explained, gesturing to lead Neville outside of the great hall and onto the grounds outside.

He gave his younger self a grin as he walked through the hall, which was returned happily, along with a friendly wave from Susan as they passed the Hufflepuff tables and walked down to the main doors and out onto the stairs leading down to the courtyard outside of the great hall.

"You know I'm you're godfather then?" James asked after a moment of silence as they stood in the quiet of the courtyard.

"Ye... yes Professor." Neville stammered out. "I... I mean my gran told me about you and everything, but... she always told me you'd died, not that... sorry, I don't mean..."

"Relax," James chuckled, leaning down against one of the smaller walls and comfortably sitting on it. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you growing up." He said quietly.

"It's... it's alright." Neville said quickly.

"No, it's not." James corrected him with a sigh, inwardly wishing that Neville had been confidant enough to talk to him about this last time around. "It's not alright what happened to your parents either." He said softly. "You were terrified when you saw Andromeda sat at the teachers table, I know that look."

"She... she just looks..."

"I know," James nodded reassuringly. "Andromeda isn't Bellatrix though, she married a muggle-born and has her own life, she got kicked out of her family for it just like Sirius. She's nothing like Bellatrix, trust me on that."

"It's... It's just hard, seeing her." Neville explained in a quiet voice. "I'm not... I'm not brave, I'm not a great wizard like you and Harry."

"You're braver than you know," James smiled, tapping Neville on the shoulder with a smile. "And I'll be here, any time you want to talk, or you can talk to Harry any time either."

"I... I can?" Neville asked, looking up at James with wide eyes.

"Sure," James smiled over. "If you're having problems with anything, you can come and find me any time you want." He said with a nod. "I was a Gryffindor as well you know." He explained with a laugh.

"Everyone knows that now," Neville smiled nervously. "Everyone was in the common room telling stories about you after... after you defeated You-Know-Who."

"Oh? Were they?" James laughed, shaking his head at the thought of the Gryffindor population gossipping about him, yet again. It seemed to be a constant in his life no matter what the year was.

"I... I thought I was going to be in Hufflepuff, and Harry would be a Gryffindor for sure." Neville confessed.

"Harry's proud to be a Hufflepuff, just like you should be proud to be a Gryffindor." James explained patiently. "Neither is better than the other, all four houses are the same."

"Ron says that all Slytherins are evil." Neville explained.

"Ron Weasley right?" James sighed, getting comfortable on the wall. "Slytherins can be evil, the same as Gryffindors can be evil, or Ravenclaws, or even Hufflepuffs."

"An evil Hufflepuff?" Neville asked, the disbelief showing on his face.

"OK, maybe an evil Hufflepuff is a bit of a stretch," James laughed, ruffling his hair as he tried to picture that. "Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor." He pointed out.

"He's the one that betrayed you to You-Know-Who," Neville said softly. "My gran told me all about it after Sirius Black's trial." He explained.

"See?" James commented with a smile. "Gryffindors aren't always the good guys, just like Slytherins aren't always the bad guys." He said with a small nod. "You make your own decisions about people, don't let the tie and robes they wear fool you."

"I won't." Neville promised firmly.

"I know it's hard, but give Andromeda a chance, trust me, she'll be a better Potions teacher than Snape ever would have been." James confessed with a grin.

"Everyone in the common room was cheering when we heard Professor Snape wasn't coming back." Neville announced with a small smile. "You're a legend in Gryffindor just because of that."

"I'll bet," James laughed, knowing all too well how badly Snape had been treating the Gryffindors for years before he arrived at the school. "Think you can give Andromeda a chance then?"

"I'll... I'll try." Neville promised.

"See, there's that Gryffindor bravery." James smiled over. "And if you make friends with Harry, you can all come over over the Christmas break and spend some time together."

"Really?" Neville whispered, looking at James in shock.

"Sure, I've got a feeling you two are going to be good friends anyway, and Susan will be there too, so there'll be plenty of people around." James explained.

"I'd... I'd like that Professor." Neville smiled up.

"Call me James when we're not in class," James grinned over as if he was sharing a secret. "And let me know if you're struggling with anything, I'll give you the same help I'd give Harry, Susan or Daphne, you're part of the family." He said as he stood up from the wall, giving Neville's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"I don't think I can do that," Neville laughed nervously, trying to imagine calling a professor by their first time.

"You'll get used to it," James laughed over. "Actually, could you do me a favour in Gryffindor?" He asked quickly. "Have you met Hermione Granger yet?"

"Yeah, I was on the train with her, she helped me find Trevor!" Neville grinned over.

"Great, I just was going to ask if you could make friends with her, help her settle in." James explained. "You know how tough it is starting a new school, she's got it even harder, she didn't know anything about magic this time last year."

"I'll help her!" Neville nodded his head eagerly.

"Great," James grinned back. "Bring her over when you meet Harry and Susan, I'm sure she'd love to make some new friends as well."

"I can do that," Neville said with a wide smile.

"Think you're ready to go back in then?" James asked, motioning to the doorway leading back into the great hall.

"They're all... they're all going to want to know why you brought me out here." Neville said nervously, looking up at James expectantly.

"Tell them I was teaching you how to be a lion," James laughed, gesturing for Neville to join him walking up the steps and back into the great hall.

"How to be a lion?" Neville asked himself, walking back into the great hall as he pondered what Professor Potter had meant by that. He'd talked about being brave and facing his fears with Andromeda, was that what he meant by becoming a lion? Becoming a true Gryffindor by facing someone that terrified him?

"James Potter!"

Neville was broken out of his thoughts by Professor McGonagall's shout echoing across the hall from the staff table, and shifting his attention back to look at what Professor Potter had done, only to find that Professor Potter wasn't walking alongside him anymore, but instead of the professor, a very large lion was walking proudly into the great hall alongside him.

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he realised the lion must be Professor Potter and everyone around the great hall started whispering and talking amongst themselves at once, all looking down to the lion who was baring it's teeth in a ferocious grin up towards Professor McGonagall.

* * *

**The Ministry of Magic**

**London**

**England **

Amelia smiled widely to herself as she walked out of the Wizengamot chambers, more than happy with how this mornings session had gone.

There'd been a near unanimous vote to remove Albus from both his positions as Chief Warlock and his appointment to the International Confederation, stripping him of his Supreme Mugwump title in the process.

Quite literally, for the first time in memory, both the light side and the dark side of the Wizengamot had voted together on the same subject, both sides denouncing Albus Dumbledore entirely. It wasn't really a surprise to anyone who had been paying attention, the dark factions had wanted Dumbledore gone for years now, and voting against him with the light factions let them achieve this goal while also denouncing Dumbledore's actions that James had accused him of.

The light and neutral factions had all simply been appalled at Dumbledore's actions, and any member of the Wizengamot, regardless of faction, that had family at Hogwarts currently, had been happy to vote him out in revenge for putting their children at risk with his traps and lures to entice Voldemort to the school.

The only surprise that came was that Albus hadn't even turned up to the meeting, though he likely knew what was coming and she could assume that he simply didn't want to be there to face the accusations in person.

Amos Diggory had been surprisingly voted in as Chief Warlock, something she hadn't expected but wasn't exactly opposed to. While Amos was known for being a bit of a braggart, he was a fair and proud wizard who would do the position proud, so she was more than happy to see him appointed to the position.

"Amelia?"

Amelia smiled as she turned around, hearing Julia's voice calling from down the hallway. "Quite the morning?" She chuckled as Julia came down to walk alongside her, both of them dressed in their official Wizengamot purple robes.

"I hadn't thought Amos would have got the votes," Julia admitted as they walked through to the main chambers where the elevators up to the main floors of The Ministry were held.

"It was close, but he's got enough friends in The Ministry to make it happen." Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "He's close with the Weasley family isn't he?"

"Lives near by," Julia nodded in agreement. "We all know how close Albus was with the Weasley's, so he might have put Amos up to it."

"Hmmm, possibly." Amelia frowned, not having considered that angle of Amos' appointment. "I'll keep an eye on him just in case."

"I assumed you would," Julia chuckled to herself as they both got in the elevator, Amelia flicking her wand towards the controls to set it going up to the DMLE level. "I heard your boytoy took the job at Hogwarts?"

"He started this morning," Amelia laughed, having given up correcting Julia on her nickname for James. While technically she knew that James was older than her by three or four years, while he had taken on the identity of James Potter, he was supposed to be younger than her by a few years instead.

"I'll bet I'll be receiving a letter from Daphne later tonight then," Julia laughed across. "How are Susan and Harry settling in to Hufflepuff?"

"Pretty well, Susan owled me last night full of talk about how the rest of the Hufflepuffs are dealing with the changes at the school, her and Hannah are in a dorm with one other girl, they seem pretty happy with how things are." Amelia smiled as the elevator came to a stop, letting them out into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. "I'm sure they'll be grumbling about starting their classes today after an extra break of things."

"Probably," Julia laughed. "Daphne was the same, happy to enjoy the extra day like a holiday with her friends and use the day to find her way around the castle." She explained, following Amelia through the department towards her office. "I heard rumours you're going to start making magical oaths of service mandatory for the Aurors?" She asked, taking the usual seat in Amelia's office.

"It's true," Amelia nodded as she headed around her desk to take her own seat. "We don't want any of the Aurors turning out to be Death Eaters in disguise, it could undermine our entire force."

"True," Julia nodded in agreement. "I'm just saying, it seems a bit extreme, it might drop recruitment a bit when it gets out."

"I'd rather keep ten Aurors I can trust, than have twenty I couldn't." Amelia admitted bluntly. "Keeping the Aurors secure against Voldemort's infiltration is the first step in making The Ministry secure." She said with a firm nod. "We're going to make sure any Death Eater that joins Voldemort has nowhere to hide."

"Good on you," Julia smiled widely. "You going to back at Bones Manor now that your boytoy is up at Hogwarts then? Or are you going to be sneaking into the castle now and again?" She asked with a laugh.

"Hardly," Amelia laughed back. "Though the idea is appealing." She added with a smirk. "Actually, Thursday night. Would you like to have dinner with me and James?"

"A proposition already?" Julia asked with a grin. "Trying to shock James senseless? Both of us, a reward for taking out You-Know-Who?" She asked with a lavish smirk and a wink.

"Maybe," Amelia laughed back.

"Thursday, hmmm," Julia nodded thoughtfully, chuckling at the joking idea. "I have nothing on. I'd be happy to join you."

"Great," Amelia smiled. "I'm sure James will be happy to take back anything you want to send up to Daphne while you're there. He's got an arrangement now up there and can floo in and out whenever he wants."

"Oh, bribery as well?" Julia laughed. "And enticing bribery at that, you must want something."

"Not entirely," Amelia laughed, waving that comment away. "I'll admit, I did speak to James about making our alliance."

"Oh?" Julia asked, raising an eyebrow at that. "He's wanting to sit down and discuss it then? A contract between the families perhaps?"

"Something like that," Amelia admitted with a nod, teasing it out to see Julia's reaction. "Though I did mention the idea of making it a formal alliance to him." She smirked, over, seeing the shock register on Julia's face.

"You didn't!" Julia laughed. "I was joking about that!" She exclaimed.

"I wasn't," Amelia commented, halting Julia's laugh like a silencing charm had been cast on her.

"You're serious?" Julia asked with wide eyes. "Me, you and James?" She asked in a whisper.

"Something to talk about?" Amelia asked, curious what Julia really thought about the idea. "I won't lie, the thought of people knowing Susan was formally under James' protection would help me sleep a lot better."

"That's something," Julia admitted, having both the Bones and Potter family weight behind her own would definitely make things a lot easier. She certainly wouldn't be dealing with the likes of the Nott or Malfoy families trying to barter marriage contracts for Daphne or Astoria with that sort of power behind her. "It'd definitely make the girls safer." She said with a thoughtful nod.

"It'd make Susan, Daphne and Astoria sisters, and Harry their brother." Amelia pointed out.

"It'd rewrite the neutral and light blocs in the Wizengamot," Julia mused aloud. "We'd have the seats to vote The Potter's in at the next election as well."

"The only reason the Potter's aren't members already is because the traditionalists that want to keep their muggle friendly thoughts out of the Wizengamot. Same reason they're not officially included in the Sacred Twenty Eight." Amelia explained. "It'd be a kick in the teeth for them to get James appointed, and we'd practically double our votes when everyone started flocking to his side."

"You're right," Julia nodded thoughtfully. "I never knew you had such high political aspirations?" She asked, looking towards Amelia now.

"James has his own thoughts on what he wants to do, most of which align with my own views." Amelia admitted. "Rewriting the laws to prevent pure-blood families from taking advantage where muggle-borns can't is one of his major platforms."

"That'll ruffle quite a few feathers." Julia muttered. "He's going to make a lot of enemies with that sort of talk."

"He's already punched Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore, in the same night." Amelia pointed out with a laugh. "Do you think he cares about making any more enemies?"

"Probably not," Julia snorted out a laugh at that, shaking her head in bemusement. "Alright, I'll come to dinner." She said with a grin. "A formal alliance, really?"

"Really," Amelia nodded over. "You take the Potter name, any children you two have continue the Potter line. I continue the Bones line."

"You know, I was joking about you sharing your boytoy. Now you want me and him? Getting a bit greedy aren't you?" Julia smirked over. "I'd have to talk with Daphne and Astoria first, see what they think about the idea."

"Of course," Amelia nodded in agreement. "Susan and Harry already know about me and James, I don't think it would surprise Susan too much, but it'll be a shock for Harry."

"That he just acquired two step-mums out of nowhere? Yeah, I'd say that'd be a shock for the kid," Julia laughed at that thought.

"Possibly another as well," Amelia commented thoughtfully. "Neville Longbottom, James' godson. I'm sure you know the story behind his parents."

"Poor kid," Julia nodded, having head about Frank and Alice Longbottom before. "James is taking him under his wing then?"

"Paw," Amelia smirked, thinking of James' animagus form. "He's quite the Gryffindor, but yes, chances are Neville's going to be as much of the family as the rest of them are."

"Three girls and two boys," Julia shook her head in amusement. "Quite the family already. Are you trying to beat the Weasley's record or something?" She asked with a laugh.

"Hardly," Amelia chuckled along. "I wouldn't say no to a son or two to continue the Bones line though, take the pressure off of Susan."

"I'm sure you and James have already been practising enough," Julia smirked over. "You're serious about this aren't you? Sharing him like that?"

"As long as he's alright sharing you with me as well," Amelia laughed with a wink.

"Ahhh, so that's how you talked him into this," Julia grinned back. "What wizard is going to say no to having two witches in his bed together." She exclaimed with a grin. "I'll admit, I wouldn't say no to joining you two like that."

"I didn't think you would," Amelia smirked over. "I already left some delicious marks on him last night to remember me by." She explained with a wicked smirk of her own.

"No!" Julia grinned wildly. "He lets you mark him?" She whispered, her eyes going wide at that juicy piece of information.

"And go on top, and tie him up," Amelia grinned back. "And he loves to be bit." He added with a wink. "You'll have to practice your restraining charms and share some of your secrets."

"Oh you are definitely sharing," Julia grinned. "Seriously, do you know how rare it is to find a wizard that isn't so full of themselves they can barely talk about anything else?" She asked with a smirk. "The last date I was on, Merlin, talk about a fish."

"A fish?" Amelia frowned, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Flops around on top for two minutes before gasping and dying," Julia explained with a dismissive grin, causing Amelia to snort in laughter. "I haven't been with a man that lets me have my fun since Cyrus was killed."

"He cooks too," Amelia pointed out. "No house elves, he does it all himself. I think he's got so used to living alone that he just uses cleaning charms and cooks automatically now without even thinking about it. I swear that man spends more time in the kitchen than I ever have, I don't actually think he's even got a house elf come to think about it."

"I'll move in tonight," Julia laughed over, causing Amelia to break out in laughter herself. "Thursday night?"

"Thursday," Amelia confirmed. "I'll double check with him tonight, but Thursday should be fine."

"I'll look forward to it," Julia grinned. "Best lingerie on then." She added with a laugh, causing Amelia to chuckle along with her as she considered what James' face would be like when faced with the two of them together.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

To James' great amusement, it didn't take long at all for students to start filing into his class. He'd had chance to organise a few book shelves, get the text book out that he was using, and move things around, but before long students started arriving in groups of fours and fives, and before long they were all seated and chatting amongst themselves eagerly.

"Alright, I think we're all here, so we can begin." He smiled eagerly as he walked to his desk at the front of the class room and leaned against it as a casual seat.

Looking around the class he could see it was a very familiar mixture of Gryffindor and Slytherin students, which meant their time tables were exactly how he remembered his first year being.

"This is Defence Against the Dark Arts, and thanks to Professor McGonagall's introduction, you all know who I am already, so I don't need to bother with an introduction." He announced with a smile as more than a few of the Slytherin students started whispering amongst themselves.

Looking around the Gryffindor he couldn't help but smile as he recognised all the faces of his friends growing up, seeing Neville sat alongside Hermione did make him grin, along with Seamus, Dean, Ron and everyone else that he remembered from his adventures at Hogwarts. Daphne was the friendly face he recognised over in the Slytherin contingent, along with Malfoy and his two bookends scowling openly in the classroom.

"We're going to cover dark creatures like ghosts, gargoyles and gnomes. Along with various dark spells in this class, how to recognise them, how to avoid them, and how to defend against them." James announced, making sure he had everyone's attention. "Now, who can tell me the difference between a hex and a jinx?" He asked, starting simply as he looked at the various hands that shot up, smirking to himself when he recognised Hermione's hand as one of them. "Yes?" He asked, pointing to a familiar looking dark haired Slytherin girl that was sat next to Daphne. "Can I have your name as well? I'd like to start leaning names as soon as possible, I can't award house points without names." He explained with a chuckle.

"Tracey Davis," The girl announced with a smile. "Jinxes aren't as dangerous as Hexes are, they're classed as irritating or amusing magic."

"Correct," James grinned happily. "There are three types of dark charms, in ascending order. Jinxes are more of an irritant than anything else, but can be useful as a distraction. Curses are the most dangerous. Hexes fall somewhere in the middle, with some of them like the horn-growing hex being only vaguely strange, while others like Stickfast Hex can prove valuable in your arsenal should you need them."

James smiled to himself, comfortable that the entire class were paying attention now. "Jinxes can easily be blocked or simply removed with a counter jinx or anti-jinx for the more powerful ones, but they are very easy to recognise, identify and understand." He paused, making sure everyone understood that before continuing on. "Now, that isn't to say jinxes are to be ignored or dismissed, jinxes like the tree animating jinx might sound amusing in the classroom, and it's pretty hilarious to watch cast on a bonsai, but if you're being chased into a forest and it's cast against you, then you suddenly have trees fighting against you as well as your assailant, making things much harder for yourselves I hope you'll agree. I'll bet you can all imagine how bad that would be if someone cast it down in the Forbidden Forest?"

He noticed a few heads nodding in agreement at that, all writing things down on parchment.

"OK, who can give me some examples of jinxes, the stranger the better." He grinned out at the class as hands shot into the air. "Names as well please, I want to start learning who you all are." He laughed before looking over the Gryffindor seats and seeing Hermione's hand stuck in the air firmly before flicking his wand to her.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione introduced himself before announcing his Jinx. "Ducklifors."

"Great example, turns objects into ducks." James laughed, spotting a few students looking at him like he was crazy. "It's a real transfiguration jinx, it's actually linked to the more advanced Draconifors spell to turn objects into small dragons, you'll learn that one in third year, but it can be a great distraction to turn someone's cloak into a duck then run while they're trying to figure out what happened." He explained, spotting the wide eyes from various students there. "And yes, small dragons, and no, I'm not joking around." He laughed, flicking his wand towards one of the books on his desk, silently transfiguring it into a small red dragon with a flash of light for everyone to see. "Now, who's got another one for me?" He asked as the small dragon flew off into the air and started circling around the classroom.

He decided to alternate this time, and look for a Slytherin student while I watched the rest of the class watching the small transfigured dragon in awe. "Yes?" He asked, flicking his wand towards a male Slytherin in the front row.

"Blaise Zabini," The Slytherin said proudly. "The Locomotor Wibbly."

"Another good example," James nodded happily. "The Jelly-Legs jinx, fantastic for casting when you need to make a quick get away, immobilises your target until they can counter it. Makes them easy pickings for a stunner while they're trying to stay upright."

After that he picked another, and another. Soon moving on from jinxes to various dark creatures and naming them along with bringing up pictures for everyone to look at, and so the class went on...


	15. Chapter 15

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

James grinned to himself as he watched the third year class of Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaws file out of the Defence classroom, that had been his last class for today, and he was actually glad of it.

Having Cedric Diggory in the class was something he hadn't anticipated at all, it had taken him a moment to gather his bearings and remind himself that he was aiming to stop the Tri-Wizard mess from ever happening this time around, so Cedric wouldn't be killed and would have an entire life ahead of himself this time.

Teaching was a lot harder work than he'd actually anticipated, but was tremendous amounts of fun as well. He'd spent half the third year class teaching them shields, and the rest of it teaching them about the patronus charm, which had absolutely astounded the students when he'd cast it and let Prongs out to gallop around the room.

"Having fun I see?"

James snapped his head up at the voice, looking towards the doorway where Andromeda was stood watching him. "I am actually." He admitted with a grin, flicking his wand towards the desks and straightening them all up. "How did your day go?"

"Dreadful," Andromeda admitted with a sigh. "All those years, I'd assumed Nymphadora was exaggerating the situation when she spoke about Severus' teaching methods or his attitude. After seeing some of the fourth and fifth years brewing, I have absolutely no idea how they are going to pass their OWLs, let alone their NEWTs." She exclaimed.

"He was a bully and an idiot," James commented with a shrug.

"The NEWT classes are almost seventy percent Slytherin. I found out he was giving them private tutelage outside of the classroom to make up for his appalling methods in the classroom that drove the other students away." Andromeda explained.

"I should be surprised," James sighed, shaking his head. "But I'm not." He admitted. "He was a foul git, and I'm happy he's gone."

"Leaving me to clean up the mess he left of the potions curriculum," Andromeda complained. "I've already had three students drop out of the NEWT classes, and I haven't even taught them yet. It seems they expected just to get a passing grade because they were in Slytherin."

"Like I said, a bully and an idiot." James reiterated his point as he collected his dragon skin trench-coat from the coat stand behind his desk. "I heard To... Nymphadora is looking to join the Aurors?"

"Sadly," Andromeda admitted, watching as James shrugged on his coat. "You don't wear robes then?" She asked curiously.

"Never liked them," James admitted with a shrug. "Limits my movement too much, gets caught on everything, and they're just a pain to wear." He said with a grin.

"You remind me of Ted, he refuses to wear them too. They're traditional," Andromeda explained firmly.

"They're traditionally a pain to wear," James countered with a smirk. "I've got nothing against other people wearing them, but I'm not layering myself down with robes when I've got a perfectly good coat." He said simply. "Anyway, what's wrong with the Aurors?"

"Do use that brain of yours," Andromeda sighed, leading the way out of the defence classroom and waiting for James to shut the door and lock it with a flick of his wand. "With You-Know-Who out there, being an Auror is more dangerous than ever. You remember the last war of course?"

"Like I could forget it," James admitted, thinking back to how bad things had been when Voldemort had returned in his time at Hogwarts.

"Then you know how much I would worry about Nymphadora," Andromeda explained.

"Telling her she can't be an Auror is just going to make her want to be one even more." James pointed out. "Teenage rebellion, remember that?" He asked with a nod to her, happily walking alongside Andromeda through the Hogwarts corridors towards the main stairway.

"Of course," Andromeda sighed, rubbing her temples in frustration. "Nymphadora... she always had a strong rebellious streak. Our argument yesterday..."

"Probably pushed her right out the front door and into the Auror recruitment line," James filled in with a knowing nod.

"Precisely," Andromeda winced. "Would you... I've heard rumours about you and Amelia?"

"You want me to ask her to keep an eye on her for you?" James asked, raising an eyebrow at the fact that apparently the knowledge of his and Amelia's relationship had made the rounds quite effectively already.

"If you would be so kind?" Andromeda nodded thoughtfully.

"Sure," James nodded, he was already going to be keeping an eye on Tonks anyway, just in case Dumbledore got up to the same tricks again, so it was no skin off of his nose to let Andromeda know he'd be watching anyway.

"Thank you," Andromeda smiled graciously at that. "I haven't had the pleasure of your son in the classroom yet, Friday is my first set with the first year Hufflepuff Ravenclaw class."

"Good luck," James laughed over. "Gryffindor and Slytherin?"

"I had them this afternoon," Andromeda sighed. "I'm well aware of the problems between the two houses, but it's got out of control surely?"

"They're all being idiots as far as I can see," James admitted as he led the way through to the great hall. "I'm hoping they'll actually grow up and get over it one day."

"A day that sadly seems very far away." Andromeda sighed. "Are you joining us for the evening meal?"

"Not tonight," James shook his head, stretching to work the kinks out of his muscles from being active all day. "I need to get back to the manor to check on Sirius and make sure he hasn't destroyed the place yet."

"Do send my best wishes to him," Andromeda smiled thoughtfully. "I am his cousin in case you had forgotten."

"I hadn't," James nodded, not having known his dad had known Andromeda at all really. "I'll pass that along, you should write to him sometime, I know he doesn't get along with much of his family."

"You have a stunning skill for understatement." Andromeda chuckled dryly at that, favouring James with a small smile. "Perhaps I will, thank you for looking after him."

"Anytime," James smiled over. "Good luck with the potions." He added with a grin as he headed off to find the Defence office where he could floo out from, leaving Andromeda in the great hall to contemplate how to repair the years of damage Severus Snape had caused to the students of Hogwarts.

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

**Wiltshire**

Deep within Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy was sat at his desk in his private study, contemplating possible actions as he stared out of the window, idly watching the sunset over the Ebbesbourne Forest that surrounded their lands.

A single glass of aged blood wine sat on his desk, along with a distressing letter from Draco, and an empty leather backed diary that positively glowed with the darkest magics he'd ever seen.

Draco's letter, detailing the changes that had occurred at Hogwarts, hadn't been that much of a surprise to him, it simply confirmed the facts and rumours that had already reached his ears.

James Potter was the new Defence teacher, and as Minerva McGonagall had taken over the school, she had apparently instituted firmer rules against bullying and harassment. Apparently firm enough to leave Draco with the correct interpretation that his usual behaviour would see him expelled from the school in a very short amount of time.

As usual, Draco's letter was begging for him to fix this so he could go back to how things were, but the damned annoying thing was, these were changes he couldn't fix.

Revealing his hand at Hogwarts would make him a target for James Potter and the rest of his alliance, which included the ever annoying Amelia Bones, who, if rumours were to be believed, was romantically involved with James Potter already.

Even making a play through his seat on the Hogwarts Governing Board would see him exposed, thanks to the friendship between the Greengrass and Bones witches, which would see any moves he made whispered back to James Potter in no time at all.

If there was one thing Malfoy's were good at, it was choosing the right side to back. His family had a long and illustrious history of siding with the victorious throughout history, making their mark, and their wealth, along the way.

He'd sided with The Dark Lord all those years ago because of his power, ambition, and breadth of knowledge about the dark arts, but admittedly, mostly because of his power. The Dark Lord had never been challenged openly until he'd faced the Potters, and they had utterly destroyed him until his recent resurgence, and even then, James Potter had driven him from the castle barely moments after duelling Albus Dumbledore himself.

Even at his height of power, Albus Dumbledore had never managed to do more than stall the Dark Lord's advance, and on the very few occasions they'd duelled, he'd been certain that given time, the Dark Lord would have been victorious if Dumbledore hadn't had help or fled the duel himself.

Lucius was no squib or second rate wizard, he had more than enough duelling experience and an unmatched knowledge of curses and duelling practice, but even he had to admit to himself that he would struggle to duel Albus Dumbledore and defeat him, let alone face Dumbledore and then The Dark Lord, and come out victorious on both occasions. That, was a worrying notion, and as a display of power was singularly effective in it's message.

The witches and wizards who considered themselves 'light families' had never really had an effective leader in their community before. Albus Dumbledore was the closest thing they really had, and while powerful, he was rather ineffective as a leader, as his forgiveness and soft hearted ways were known to everyone, something the dark families relied on knowing that they could do whatever they wanted with very little in the way of reprisals coming their way.

The light families flocking around James Potter was an entirely new phenomenon, much like Potter himself from everything he'd been able to find out. He was capable, powerful, and had the will to stand and fight two of the most powerful wizards he'd ever known, and judging from what everyone had said about him after the fact, rumours were that he had little patience for forgiveness or second chances, and had told Albus Dumbledore that to his face.

Then there was this mention of a Prophecy surrounding the Potter boy, he'd heard hints of it before in the months before The Dark Lord had attacked The Potters, but to have it confirmed openly had set him on edge, especially with how Potter had so easily dispatched The Dark Lord. It was entirely likely that the elder Potter had trained his son already, it was what he would have done in the same situation, which meant it was entirely likely that the young Harry Potter would grow up to be just as formidable in the coming years.

Choosing the winning side typically came down to it simply being a matter of power and will. Who had the most power, and who had the will to use that power and see things done.

The problem was, he could now see that James Potter had more than enough power to face The Dark Lord and come out victorious, and he most assuredly had the will to drive Albus Dumbledore out of Hogwarts in a single night, a move that Lucius had to admit he was rather envious of.

There was also the rather disgusting fact that The Dark Lord had in fact been the son of a muggle. A fact first apparently confirmed when Potter had confronted him at Hogwarts, calling him by his real name apparently as well, which The Dark Lord hadn't denied in their ensuing battle.

That alone was making waves through the community, with the Daily Prophet digging up everything they could on Tom Marvolo Riddle and writing daily exposés on The Dark Lord's real history.

At this very moment, he had The Dark Lord's personal journal on his desk, embossed in gold with the rather dubious name of T. M. Riddle, was confirmation enough of all everything that was being said as far as he was concerned.

The thought that he had tied himself to the son of a muggle wasn't sitting with Lucius Malfoy well one bit. The fact that The Dark... no, Tom Riddle, had used him and the other pure blood families for his own agenda while lying about his own pedigree was something that rankled deep within him. Nobody used a Malfoy and gets away with it.

All of these facts had led him to his current conundrum. Tom Riddle being victorious was no longer a certainty, and given how easily James Potter had dealt with him two nights ago, it was looking more and more like the Potters would come out victorious without breaking a sweat.

James Potter's resurgence had cast doubt on everything he knew about that night from a decade ago. Since the Senior Potter had survived, it meant that it had been him that had destroyed Tom Riddle all those years ago and brought an end to the war.

That realisation brought both positive and negative thoughts with it. The fact that it had been James Potter, a pure blood wizard of quite the pedigree, to defeat Tom Riddle instead of a half-blood child, was something that actually pleased him. He knew more than a few wizards around the magical world would have come to the same conclusion and were happy with that realisation.

After all, it was well known that Albus Dumbledore was the source of the rumours and stories around 'The-Boy-Who-Lived', and had obviously been trying to build up the boy's reputation for some unknown reason. It was clear that there had been nobody else in the house that night aside from Riddle and The Potters, and it had been pitifully easy to trace back the stories and interviews in books back to the issues of The Prophet, and spot the various hints and tips that came from Albus Dumbledore along with a few that came from the Hogwarts grounds keeper as well.

The undeniable fact was, James Potter had taken Hogwarts and driven Albus Dumbledore from the castle in a single act, it was painfully clear that Cornelius Fudge had been driven to Amelia Bones, where he was seeing her for advice more and more now, where he would have come to him in the past, and if the rumours of Potter and Bones being involved together were true, then it was entirely likely that the Bones witch would push for the Potter seat on the Wizengamot to be recognised at last, and given Potter's current popularity, their alliance would sweep the Wizengamot seats without opposition.

Standing against the Potters seemed to be a very certain way of losing everything and ending their family line rather fatally, and Malfoy's didn't lose.

He'd already penned back a parchment to Draco informing him that he expected him to stay within the new rules of the school and to moderate his behaviour to fit in with the new leading factions of the school. Without Severus there to save Draco from his own brash actions and statements, he highly doubted that Draco would last a month if he didn't learn to keep his opinions to himself outside of the private Slytherin common room.

He'd also made sure that Draco knew, in no uncertain terms, that he was not to antagonise the young Potter or any of his associates, though given that he'd heard from several sources now that Harry Potter had been sorted into Hufflepuff, he doubted Draco would ever deign to give him any attention, positive or negative, unless something made him stand out.

It was a rather decisive letter, quite literally changing the course of his family from where they'd sided on the dark before, to siding with the Potters and the light faction this time, but to secure his family's future and be recognised for choosing the right path, he was almost certain that he was making the right choice.

With Tom Riddle back, he had no doubt that he would return for the journal at some point. The thing was steeped in dark magics, and he was certain that whatever it was, Tom Riddle would want it back. Just having it in his manor would be a threat to his family, like a Sword of Damocles hanging over them waiting to fall.

Steeling himself he enjoyed a savoury mouthful of the blood wine before he folded the parchment up and sealed it with a wax stamp, flicking his wand towards the window and opening it for his eagle owl to fly in and onto his perch as he was trained to do.

"For Draco." Lucius said firmly, blowing on the wax stamp to cool it gently before giving to the owl and letting it fly off out of the window.

He was set on his path now, and he was certain it wouldn't be an easy one, but it was one he would take to ensure the future of his family. Now all he had to do was to decide what to do with the vile book Tom Riddle had left in his keeping, and how to get it to Potter or his alliance so they could take care of it.

Taking a deep breath he folded the book up in a thick wrap of parchment, idly glaring down at the name inscribed in gold lettering across the front of the book where he could read T. M. Riddle, before he covered it up with a disgusted sneer and made his way down to the main parlour of the manor to find his wife.

He would need her family connections for this, and he could only hope that his wife's cousin would be open to her approach and would put them in touch with Potter, because this was going to be even more dangerous if they burned bridges on both sides before the war had even started.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

"That was wicked!" Harry grinned aloud as he came through into the Hufflepuff common room alongside Susan.

After a double charms lesson last thing in the day, he was still hyped up after everything he'd been taught today and had utterly and completely fallen in love with Hogwarts.

"Harry right?"

Harry turned as he looked around the common room, wondering who it was that was calling out to him.

"Cedric," Cedric introduced himself, standing up and coming over with his hand open to shake Harry's. "I had your dad last thing for Defence." He explained with a smile.

"Oh right," Harry nodded, shaking the hand that was offered and doing his best to ignore the dreamy eyed stare that Susan was giving to Cedric.

"He was pretty awesome, shields and patronus on our first day, that's pretty hard core casting," Cedric explained with a wide smile. "He really knows his stuff, I've never seen anyone that can cast a patronus silently like that."

"He's cool," Harry nodded with a grin.

"He's an animagus too right? A lion?" Cedric asked curiously.

"Uhuh," Harry nodded in confirmation. "My godfather is too, he's a big black dog. They both said they'll teach me when I get a bit older."

"That's really advanced transfiguration, you'll have to show us all when you get through with it." Cedric grinned over. "I just thought I'd come and say hi, see how you're settling in."

"I'm fine," Harry smiled back, he was actually having a lot of fun so far and every lesson had been something new and exciting to learn.

"Great, let me know if you need anything alright? I know how it is, settling in to a new place, but we're all pretty friendly here, so if anyone ever needs any help, we're all here together alright?" Cedric explained.

"Sure," Harry smiled with a nod. "Thanks."

"Anytime, that goes for you too Sue, and all the other first years too." Cedric said, giving Susan one of his smiles as well. "We're planning out study groups to start next week, so let me know if you want to sit in on any of them alright?"

"Alright," Harry quickly agreed, more than happy to have more friends he could chat with and study alongside.

"Have fun," Cedric smiled as he headed back to his group by the couches and returned to his quidditch planning for the upcoming week's tryout.

"I can't believe he was talking to you like that!" Susan breathed out, staring at Harry in awe. "Cedric's the Hufflepuff seeker on the quidditch team, he's a sure fit for captain next year or the year after."

"Oh!" Harry grinned, looking over at Cedric in a new light now with that information. "I wanted to play seeker, but if he's already got the position..." He trailed off with a frown. "Maybe I should try out for chaser or something else?"

"He's really good," Susan nodded firmly. "You should try out anyway though, maybe Cedric will swap out being seeker so you can get some games in for when he finishes school?"

"Maybe," Harry nodded thoughtfully, pondering what to do about the whole quidditch situation. He'd been excited to play ever since his older self had told him about the game and how good he was going to be at it, but since he hadn't even played a match yet, he had absolutely no idea if it was something he wanted to do or not.

"Can you help me with that levitation charm?" Susan asked hopefully. "You were the only one in our class to get it right."

"Sure," Harry grinned, nodding to a table and chairs in the corner of the common room where they could practice before he led the way over. "Are you having trouble with the spell or the wand part?" He asked, dropping into one of the chairs and waiting for Susan to sit down next to him.

"Um, both?" Susan asked with a small grin.

"Alright," Harry grinned, bringing out his wand and sliding over a quill to practice with. "The wand part is like this..."

* * *

**Potter Manor**

**Honley**

"Sirius?" James called out as he came through the floo, happy to drop his bag and coat on the leather couch for now as he looked around the manor for any signs of life.

"In the kitchen."

James shrugged at that, wandering through to find Sirius sat at the kitchen table wearing the same Pink Floyd t-shirt he'd bought him nearly a week ago now. "You alright?" He asked, noticing Sirius slightly pale expression.

"In the pot on the oven," Sirius said, sounding far more serious than James had ever heard before.

Looking around he spotted the large saucepan on the hob with a lid on it, though strangely the hob wasn't lit, leaving the pan just sat there. "Alright?" James asked, heading over curiously and lifting the lid of the pot to peer inside before quickly slamming it back down when he recognised Salazar Slytherin's locket inside. "You got the damn thing on your own?" He demanded, spinning around to face Sirius. "How long did you have it on you for?"

"A few hours," Sirius admitted with a groan. "I thought dementors were bad, that thing... that's pure evil." He said with a grunt towards the pot in question.

"It's a piece of Voldemort's soul, it's not exactly kittens and marshmallows." James commented with a smirk. "Worst part is, chocolate doesn't help with this thing either."

"I noticed," Sirius grumbled. "I just wanted to be helpful, I thought I could handle it."

"Well, consider it handled." James grinned over. "We can take it out back and torch it tonight if you want?"

"Merlin yes!" Sirius practically foamed at the mouth at the thought. "I can't stand even having that thing in the manor, I thought shoving it in a pot would help but..."

"It just gets creepier the longer it's around," James nodded. "I know how it is, these things get inside you, twist you up." He said with a reassuring smile. "Come on, lets get rid of it." He grinned, heading back over to the pot and grabbing it with both hands, more than happy to sacrifice the entire pot to fiendfyre so he wouldn't have to touch the locket at all himself.

"I wanted... I wanted to destroy it for you." Sirius explained as he followed James out of the kitchen and onto the grounds of the manor. "But..."

"Sirius, it's fine, really." James nodded reassuringly. "Seriously, you got the thing, that's a huge thing for me." He said with a proud smile.

"I didn't think I could cast fiendfyre, not and control it," Sirius admitted with a sigh as he followed James down through the grasslands around the manor. "Not without burning down everything around me anyway."

"I've got this," James grinned as they approached a carefully dug out hole.

"Is... is that..." Sirius trailed off, looking down the hole at the molten scrap metal left over at the bottom.

"Ravenclaw's Tiara, Diadem? Whatever they're calling it?" James asked, then nodded when Sirius looked at him. "Or whatever's left of it." He explained with a shrug. "And it's about to be joined with all this." He grinned as he dropped the entire pot down the hole, listening for it to hit the bottom and collide with the twisted and scorched metal chunks that were already down there.

"Not a great way to end your first day teaching, huh?" Sirius asked with a guilty expression.

"Are you kidding?" James grinned over. "Ending the day by torching a piece of Voldemort's soul? I wish every day could end like this!" He said with a wide grin, flicking his wand out and aiming it down the hole before twisting his wand in the erratic movements needed to cast fiendfyre and incanting aloud, sending a twisting torrent of fire down the hole that blazed out of his wand with a backwash of heat that made both him and Sirius stumble back.

"I've got this, I've got this!" James muttered, gritting his teeth as he fought with his will against the fire's will, bending it under his control as he forced the fiendfyre to loop around on itself, burning in a ball of incandescent rage at the bottom of the pit until it tore through the pan and into Slytherin's locket itself and released the evil within.

The screech of rage that tore out of the hole was unholy as the fiendfyre ripped into the soul fragment housed within the locket, releasing the piece of Voldemort's soul before enveloping it entirely and burning away at it with unimaginable heat.

James simply stood there with his jaw set, holding his wand down and controlling the fiendfyre with a pure force of will as he directed it to incinerate Slytherin's locket down until it was nothing more than a molten pile of slag.

It was several minutes later that Sirius put his hand on James shoulder, gently pulling his attention away from the barely contained inferno before them, and nodded slowly with a smile on his face. "I think you got it." He said with a small smirk, causing James to snort out a breath of laughter.

"Yeah," James admitted, twisting his wand counter clockwise and flicking it up, banishing the fiendfyre back to wherever it came from and leaving the hole in the ground smoking and scorched even more than it had been already.

"You know, actually, I think that counted as overkill." Sirius admitted as he took a step closer to look down into the hole, satisfied that he couldn't feel the demented presence of the evil inside the locket any longer.

"It was a chunk of Voldemort's soul, there's no such thing as overkill, only 'has it been wiped from the face of the Earth yet?'" James commented with a grin.

"I can get on board with that," Sirius nodded thoughtfully, quickly coming to agree with that though entirely as he stared down into the smoking hole with a satisfied grin on his face. "How was school then?" He asked with a smirk, looking up at James again.

"Andromeda was asking after you," James mused aloud, watching Sirius for a reaction.

"Romi?" Sirius blinked, surprised at that. "What's she doing at Hogwarts?" He asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I got her the job there, they needed a potions mistress, so I suggested to Minerva that she might like the job." James explained with a shrug. "She took it." He added with a simple grin.

"Romi's teaching at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked, blinking at that strange pronouncement. "She took Snivellius' position?" He asked with a grin.

"Yup," James grinned back, popping the 'p' as he spoke.

"I hadn't... I hadn't even thought about her after... how is she?" Sirius asked, stumbling over his words.

"Dealing with an eighteen year old daughter who wants to join the Aurors and fight Voldemort," James shrugged. "You know, the usual." He explained with a grin.

"The usual for you," Sirius muttered, rolling his eyes. "Merlin, Dora, I... she was barely learning to fly when you were born." He admitted, lost in his memories of that more innocent time before he'd lost a decade of his life to Azkaban.

"Apparently Andromeda and Tonks had an argument about her joining the Aurors now that everyone knows Voldemort's back." James pointed out, gesturing for them both to head back towards the manor. "I bet you can guess how that turned out."

"Probably about the same as my parents telling me I should demand a resorting and get into Slytherin like a proper pure blood Black would." Sirius snorted in amusement, following James back towards the manor. "What happened to her? You know, in your time?"

"Died, in the battle of Hogwarts." James said sombrely.

"Who did it?" Sirius demanded, stepping forward to stand in front of James so he couldn't walk past him. "Who killed her?"

"Bellatrix." James said simply, watching the truth wash over Sirius.

"I'll kill the bitch!" Sirius snarled out.

"She's in Azkaban," James pointed out. "And I've got no plans of letting Voldemort break all of his lunatics out this time around, so she can stay in there and rot." He said bluntly.

"And if she breaks out?" Sirius demanded.

"Then we put her down like a dog, wait, no, not..." James sighed, ruffling his hair. "You know what I mean." He grinned across to Sirius.

"Yeah," Sirius nodded back. "She's not getting anywhere near little Dora." He vowed aloud. "She's one of the only few family members I've got that I can stand." He explained with a grimace as he thought about the rest of the Black family.

"Get in touch with Andromeda, meet up with them both, go drinking, whatever." James shrugged. "Maybe she'll be your wingman and set you up with some dates."

"Hey, yeah, yeah!" Sirius grinned at the thought. "I'll owl Romi tonight!" He said with an excited little bounce in his step. "What about you and Amelia? Things still going great there?" He asked, backing away so they could continue on into the manor properly.

"Yeah, great, I think." James frowned, ruffling his hair. "Actually, and serious talk time OK? I need some of this pure blood bollocks explained to me here, so no jokes alright?"

"Alright Junior," Sirius frowned, noticing the confused look that was staring at him. "What's happened?"

"What's the deal with all this line continuance stuff and all that crap?" James asked, leading Sirius into the kitchen so he could grab a butterbeer.

Sirius whistled as he frowned thoughtfully. "Amelia talked to you about that stuff then?" He asked, following James through and accepting a butterbeer himself before casting a quick cooling charm over it and flipping off the lid. "For her?"

"For her and Susan," James nodded thoughtfully, following Sirius idea of a cooling charm on his butterbeer. "She said that if we got married, she wouldn't be able to take the Potter name because of what it'd do to Susan."

"She's right," Sirius nodded, swallowing a mouthful of his butterbeer. "I know you didn't grow up with all the family traditions and all this stuff, but it's important to a lot of families out there, and sounds like it's important to Amelia if she's bringing it up with you now. It's probably been on her mind since you two got together, so she'll want to know if you're on board with it before you two take the next step."

"Alright, fill me in." James nodded, leaning against the counter and enjoying a deep draught from the bottle he was holding.

"What exactly did Amelia say she was thinking about?" Sirius prompted curiously. "There's a lot of these crappy traditions, literally I had it shoved down my throat for years, so narrowing it down might help."

"No jokes?" James warned, pointing the neck of the butterbeer towards Sirius until he held up his hands in surrender. "She was talking about a three way marriage."

"It happens," Sirius nodded. "I'm assuming she's got someone in mind since she's the one bringing this up with you and not the other way around." He explained with a shrug when James looked at him. "Normally it's the wizard trying to get two witches on the go at the same time, normally ends up getting hexed silly for it, so since she's the one that brought it up, I figure she's already thought this all through."

"Julia Greengrass." James explained with a sigh. "She was explaining that Julia wants the Greengrass name to die out because of something her father-in-law did, it was her husbands plan as well. Something about Grindelwald and family honour, I didn't really get the gist of much of it."

"Greengrass is a sacred twenty eight, that's going to piss off a hell of a lot of people." Sirius pointed out.

"I really couldn't give less of a shit," James grunted dismissively, enjoying another long pull of his butterbeer. "She said Julia would take the Potter name, and she'd still be a Bones?"

"That's how it'd work," Sirius nodded in agreement. "So when you had kids with them, Julia would give birth to Potters, and Amelia would give birth to Bones'... Boneses? Bones, I was right the first time." He said, correcting himself. "It's all about family lines, making sure the family name continues on to the next generation."

"Isn't it weird though? A three person marriage?" James asked curiously.

"Not really," Sirius shrugged. "I've seen a few of them, as long as the three are all alright with it, who am I to judge?" He asked. "Just like turning out to be a wizards wizard or whatever else anyone wants to be into. It's their thing, why should I care?" He explained. "Got to remember, a lot of families are still getting over the last time Voldemort started his war. Securing the blood lines would be a major thing, especially for the old families like the Bones and Potter lines that are nearly extinct now because of him."

"Wizards wiz... ah," James nodded, grasping onto what that phrase meant pretty quickly. "So it's normal then?"

"Normal enough," Sirius nodded. "It'd probably improve your popularity with the traditional families as well, they all go in for that sort of stuff you know." He explained, holding up his hand when he saw he was about to be interrupted. "I know you couldn't care less about what they think, but it's something you're going to have to keep in mind Junior, if not for you, then for Amelia."

"Fine," James groused, thinking about what Sirius had said.

"The Greengrasses and Bones families are pretty old, not as old as the Potter's, but they're both Sacred Twenty Eight, the pure blood families will go nuts for you doing your part to ensure the lines are continued, even if Greengrass becomes a Potter." Sirius pointed out. "It's been a while since I read anything about the old families, but I'm pretty sure the Greengrasses emigrated here from Europe somewhere in the early eighteen hundreds, northern I think but don't quote me on that. I only remember the name because it stood out to me, they bought their way onto the Sacred Twenty Eight because they were related to some royal family in Europe. Pretty much everyone knows it was a Nott that wrote the list anyway, so he just took bribes from any of his friends to put them on the list and give them something else to brag about."

"I just wanted to know if it was a normal thing or not," James explained with a shrug. "I didn't grow up with this stuff and never really paid attention to it, so..." He trailed off.

"If Amelia and Julia are in to it, I'd say go for it." Sirius explained, enjoying a mouthful of the cold butterbeer. "Just promise you'll have some kids of your own so I can be a proper godfather around this time?" He asked with a hopeful grin.

James snorted with laughter at that, shaking his head at the thought. "Not until we've taken care of Voldemort." He said firmly. "No way am I even thinking about a family while snakeface is out there."

"That's fair," Sirius nodded at that. "You never thought of a family before? You know, before you ended up back here?"

"Not really," James admitted. "Maybe, maybe once, but it never happened."

"That muggle-born girl right?" Sirius asked, nodding when James nodded back at him. "Maybe Harry will get it right with her this time around." He said with a smile. "I know it's not the same, but if Amelia makes you happy, Julia too for that matter." He added with a smirk.

"Yeah, I know." James smiled back. "I'm not hung up on her, I let her go a long time ago." He admitted with a sad smile. "Just one of those things you think about, you know? What could have been? What if?"

"Yeah," Sirius nodded back as he drank from his cool bottle. "I had someone like that, before... before." He said solemnly. "Gideon Prewett." He explained at the curious glance. "He was in Gryffindor two years above us, friends with Remus, barely gave me the time of day through Hogwarts. When he came out, his parents pretty much disowned him as well, so we had that in common to start with."

"Wait, he?" James blinked, visibly surprised by this revelation. "You're gay?" He asked in shock.

"I... I didn't tell you in the future?" Sirius blanched. He'd assumed with all of the future knowledge at his disposal, that something like this would have come up at least once in their talks.

"No," James snorted, shaking his head at that. "No, sorry, that... that just surprised me." He explained with a laugh. "It doesn't matter though, not to me anyway, it just... huh, it just wasn't something you ever mentioned before."

"Guess I must have been waiting to find the right time to talk to you about it, but then..." Sirius grimaced, remembering he'd apparently died only a short time after finding Harry in his future, frowning to himself at how he'd put his foot in it so bluntly there. "One of the reasons mummy dearest blasted me off the family tree. I kept ignoring her stupid matchmaking plans to get me paired off with a pure blood witch and keep the family going." He explained.

"Getting sorted into Gryffindor was one thing, but telling them I was gay and didn't want to settle down with a witch and raise the next generation of Black idiots to be brainwashed into their pure blood nonsense?" He explained with a snort before turning to look up again at those curious green eyes. "They tried to curse it out of me enough times, ordering me to just use love potions and do what the family expected, enough that I finally got angry enough to start cursing back, that's when your dad's parents took me in." He explained with a fond smile.

"With how everyone looks at gay wizards, you'd think we had the plague or something. Your dad helped me keep up the womanising wizard reputation, kept everyone from figuring it out." He explained with a sad smile as he thought back to all the adventures he'd had with James. "You know your mum used to think me and James were a couple until he convinced her he was serious about asking her out. You really don't care?"

"Not in the least," James shrugged. "Like you said, whatever makes you happy. I knew your parents were bigoted arseholes anyway, so hearing they kicked you out because you were gay? Not exactly the biggest surprise." He explained, draining a mouthful of his butterbeer. "What happened?" he asked. "With, Gideon was it?" He asked curiously.

"He was killed, a few months before Prongs and Lily." Sirius explained with a pained expression on his face. "Dolohov and his gang of bastards, they wiped out practically his entire family." He said softly. "His twin brother, his parents, every last one of them."

"He was your someone special?" James asked.

"We were together, had been since just before Prongs wedding." Sirius nodded, wiping some tears from his eyes. "Things... things were going good, but with the war and everything..."

"Shit," James breathed out, thinking how tough that must have been.

"Yeah, he was my one." Sirius admitted. "The Death Eaters took that from me." He said softly.

"But we have to move on," James nodded. "Survive, live and move past it. It's what they'd want us to do." He said, knowing full well it's what Hermione would want him to do if she knew the situation he was in right now.

Sirius snorted at that, laughing as the tears continued to fall down his face. "He'd curse me silly for staying hung up on him this long after... after his funeral."

"Mine would too," James laughed back, firmly remembering all the times Hermione had slapped his shoulder or punched him for doing something stupid.

"You keep hold of Amelia, she's a good one for you." Sirius smiled up, wiping the tears from his face. "Julia too if you think you can handle the two of them." He added on with a snort of laughter.

"I think we need more alcohol than this for this sort of night," James commented, finishing off his butterbeer and heading to the cupboard for the bottle of firewhiskey he knew was inside. "Might as well do it properly." He announced, holding up the bottle for Sirius to see.

"You read my mind," Sirius grinned at that, grabbing two tumblers from the shelf of glasses.

"Go out with Tonks, have a few drinks, get her to introduce you to some wizards." James ordered, pouring out healthy measures of firewhiskey into each of the glasses. "You can't just keep hanging on to the past Sirius. I learnt that the hard way, and trust me, coming from me, that's saying something."

"I never imagined I'd be having this sort of conversation with you," Sirius admitted, sitting down at the kitchen table and snatching up one of the drinks. "You're not even supposed to be old enough to drink this shit for another six years."

"Get over it," James groused, lifting up his own glass of firewhiskey. "To moving on." He toasted aloud, waiting for Sirius to do the same.

"Moving on." Sirius intoned, clashing his glass against James's before downing the shot and wincing at the hard burning liquid that slipped down his throat.

Swallowing his own firewhiskey James smiled over, pouring out another shot as he sat down at the table with his godfather and settled in for their first adult drink together while talking about the witches and wizards they'd loved.


	16. Chapter 16

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

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**4th September**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

James groaned to himself as he stumbled through the corridors of Hogwarts towards his defence classroom, working their way through an entire bottle of firewhiskey last night had seemed like a good idea at the time, and had oddly really brought him closer to Sirius with their drunken discussions, but he was definitely regretting it this morning with a hangover that even a recovery potion hadn't completely banished from his brain and a mouth that still felt like carpet after a scouring charm and two mugs of coffee.

His head was already thumping as he approached the defence classroom, and the shouted arguments he could hear from inside weren't improving his disposition one bit.

As he approached the doorway he stopped and listened for a moment, growling as he heard the usual pure blood rhetoric bullshit coming from a few students who were shouting at other students and being shouted back at equally as loud.

Making the easy decision he shifted down into his lion form, stalking into the doorway as Leo and letting out a roar that silenced the room more effectively than a canon-blast charm would have done, before he slowly padded into the room and shifted back into his normal body.

"Right then, I assume I have everyone's attention now?" He demanded, stalking through the classroom to the front while the various third year students scattered around to find their seats.

Turning around he grimaced, recognising the third year Gryffindor Slytherin class as his eyes locked onto the Weasley twins sat on the Gryffindor side of the classroom.

"I was going to start shields and the patronus charm today, but it appears you all have something you'd rather talk about." He said firmly, taking off his trench-coat and tossing it over the his chair so he could lean on his desk comfortably in just his faded jeans and t-shirt.

"Pure blood supremacy, so, that's today's topic then?" He asked, looking around the classroom as more than a few of the students fidgeted at their argument being overhead by him. "Lets make this simple. No detentions, no points taken. If you believe in the pure blood rhetoric, go to that side of the classroom." He said, indicating to the Slytherin side. "If you believe it's a lie, go to that side of the classroom." He said, indicating the Gryffindor side. "If you're neutral or simply don't give a toss, stay in the middle."

He waited for a few moments, simply sitting on his desk in silence as the students stared at him before he nodded. "I'm serious, go on, pick your side. There'll be no detention or points taken. Stand up for what you believe in." He said simply. "If you're proud enough to shout at each other over it, you shouldn't have any problem just standing up and letting everyone see what side you're on."

To no surprise, the Weasley Twins were the first to stand up along with Lee, quickly moving to the far wall of the Gryffindor side with quite a few other Gryffindors. Most of the Slytherins shuffled over to their wall, leaving a smattering of Slytherins and Gryffindors stuck in the middle of the classroom being glared at from both sides.

"Right, you're right." James said, flicking his wand towards the Gryffindor wall. "And you're right." He said, much to everyone's confusion as he pointed to the Slytherin wall.

"We can't both be right!" One of the third year Slytherins argued.

"Why not?" James asked, fixing the Slytherin with a pointed look. "Look, do any of you lot even know where the pure blood supremacy movement came from?" He asked, looking around the class, then sighing when nobody raised their hands. "It was around long before Voldemort, he just picked it up and used it to get people to fight for him, but it's been around for centuries. So you're all arguing and picking a side when you don't even know what the fight is about?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What's it about then?" The Weasley twins asked in tandem.

"Magic," James said simply, moving around to lean against his desk comfortably. "Magic is in your blood, we all know that, it's a basic fact of life. It's why blood rituals are so powerful, and why a wizard and a witch will have a magical child rather than a muggle child." He explained simply. "Magic is in the blood, but also, there are specific magical abilities that are passed down in the blood too." He explained, looking back to the class who were paying rapt attention to him now.

"Sit down, stand, get comfortable, whatever you want." James laughed, seeing how they were all still stood in formation against their chosen walls in the classroom.

"What do you mean, magical abilities?" One of the Gryffindor girls asked curiously as she moved back to her desk.

"There's quite a few magical attributes that are passed down along blood lines, father or mother to child." James explained, flicking his wand in the air and writing out 'Parseltongue' in flaming letters for them all to see. "Parseltongue for example, being able to talk to snakes, is passed down through the blood line, it's a magical language, you can't learn it if it's not in your blood." He explained, pointing up to the flaming writing that was just hanging in the air. "Salazar Slytherin was a famous Parseltongue, and if you believe the stories, so was Merlin, another Slytherin." He explained bluntly, seeing the shock register on the Gryffindor students faces.

"Merlin was a Slytherin?" The Weasley twins whispered in shock while the Slytherin side sat up a bit more proudly at that information.

"It's in the history books if you pay attention, though with Binns teaching, I doubt you ever would. You two would probably pay more attention to his chocolate frog card, I'm pretty sure it's on there too." James commented offhand. "Everyone still consider Binns' class as an afternoon nap time?" He asked with a grin, causing the class to laugh along with him in confirmation.

"Alright, here's another one. Metamorphmagus, quite a famous one." He explained, flicking his wand to the air again and causing 'Metamorphmagus' to appear in fiery writing underneath Parseltongue. "This is a trait that lets anyone change their body whenever they want, like personal wandless transfiguration. They could disguise themselves as anyone, make themselves look however they want. Hair, eyes, body, everything, right down to their voices. There's no detection spell that shows it up, it's flawless and with practice, even better than Polyjuice."

"Wicked!" The Weasley twins breathed out in awe.

"Again, it's passed down through the bloodlines." James pointed out. "The Black Family used to infamous for this trait, I have a minor version of it but never learnt to control it, thanks to one of my ancestors being married to a Black centuries ago. I can grow my hair back quickly, happened a few times growing up, but I never got the hang of it. The Potter messy hair curse is probably part of that actually, another thing for me to blame on the Black's." He explained with a snort of laughter. "For all we know, the Weasley's could have that trait too." He explained, pointing to the Weasley twins with his wand. "Their ancestor married a Black as well around the same time." He explained with a laugh at the horrified looks everyone was giving the twins. "Yeah, those two as metamorphmagus? I apologise now for any nightmares or paranoia that's going to give you lot." He grinned as the Gryffindor contingent of the class laughed openly at that.

"We're related to the Blacks?" The Weasley twins whispered to each other, the shock clear on their faces.

"Precognition, prophecies, being a seer, that's a bloodline gift." He explained, flicking his wand and writing 'seer' out too. "Veela magic, only passed down through female Veela bloodlines, there's another." He flicked his wand again. "Now we get to the negatives. Maledictions, bloodline curses that are passed down through the families for centuries. That one could wipe out an entire blood line in only two or three generations, it's all passed on through the blood just like the infamous Weasley hair." He explained, sobering up the class quickly and making a few of them laugh at the same time. "Magic is passed through blood, and pure blood supremacists want to keep these blood line gifts purely in their families, marrying into their bloodlines to preserve and strengthen the gift. They think that because those gifts run in pure blood families, it makes them better, superior in magic to those that don't, like muggle-borns."

"So we're right!" The Slytherin third year crowed happily at that proof.

"Like I said, these gifts," He indicated to the flaming writing with his wand. "Are only passed down through the blood lines. Old and pure blood families are known for these gifts, and treat them as being more precious than all the gold in their vaults. That's one of the reasons why family inheritance laws are always about the sons, not the daughters. They want pure blood sons to carry on the family name, and keep these magical traits linked to their family, not married out into another family name."

"But you said we were right too?" One of the Gryffindors asked.

"There's one metamorphmagus in England right now, only one, the daughter of Andromeda Tonks, your potions teacher, or Andromeda Black as she used to be known." James explained, linking back to the Black family so everyone would see what he was talking about. "That metamorphmagus? She's a half blood." He said bluntly, dropping the truth on everyone like an anvil. "There's two people in this school right now that I know of that can speak Parseltongue, neither of them are in Slytherin, and if we include Voldemort as a Parseltongue, all three are half blood." He explained, watching as the entire Slytherin side stared at him in shock and a little bit of horror at those facts. "Those traits have been dormant in pure blood families for decades, but as soon as there's a half blood child with a muggle-born lineage?" He snapped his fingers and grinned, destroying the pure blood argument in one easy step.

"There's the truth," He explained firmly. "The Pure Blood's know about these magical traits, and they know that having a child with someone who has the same trait, would pass it on for certain to their child, keeping their blood line strong and magical." He explained, gesturing around the classroom. "The muggle-borns and anyone with a modern muggle education know that marrying, or more specifically, having a child with someone too close to your own bloodline, leads to deformities and genetic mutations which leads to problems."

"Mutations?" One of the Slytherins asked, not familiar with the word.

"Squibs." James explained bluntly, causing quite a few of the Slytherin students to look at him in horror. "That's what the Pure Blood Wars are all about. Magic and power, that's it, end of story. It diversified down the line, with some pure bloods trying to claim that muggle-borns were stealing their magic by marrying into pure families and giving birth to children that had these gifts, it's all a crock of shit of course, they're just using those lies to try and con people into following them because the truth doesn't back up what they want it to. When it comes right down to it, it's about power, and controlling the magic passed on down the blood lines. Controlling magic, controlling power, and making yourself feel more important than anyone else."

He happily wriggled up to sit on his desk properly after saying that, staring out at the classroom and watching as everyone understood what he was saying. "The pure blood's think the muggle-born's don't care about traditions or their world? That's a pile of bullshit, right there. Anyone with a half a brain should be able to see that. They don't know about the pure blood traditions or customs, they've never been taught them, there's no books about them, no classes to help them. Then the pure bloods blame them for not knowing these traditions when there's no way for them to have known them in the first place." He explained, ruffling his hair in frustration.

"If you want to believe you're better than other people because you're a pure blood wizard or witch? That's your choice, I honestly couldn't care less what you believe." James explained bluntly. "But if you think that gives you the right to dictate what other people do with their lives? To lord over them, control them, order them around and tell them what they can and can't do with their lives? Treat them as less than you? Then I'll be there with them, stood in their defence every step of the way, and I'll fight for them with every curse I've got." He said the last firmly, making sure every eye in the classroom was staring at him.

"Power is power, these blood line gifts aside and the others like them," He said, flicking his thumb to the flaming writing that was still hanging in the air. "Magical power comes from you, from your soul and your blood. Your magic, nobody else's." He said firmly. "I knew a half-blood wizard who cast a full corporeal patronus in his third year to drive off a swarm of Dementors. Third year." He asked, happily talking about himself. "Can any of you?" He asked, waving around the classroom to indicate them all with a grin. "The smartest witch I ever knew was a muggle-born witch, she earned more outstanding NEWT's than any pure blood in our entire year, but she was still looked down on just because of her blood."

"My godfather was an animagus by fourth year, so was my father." James continued on in the silence. "Casting a patronus, learning to become an animagus, anyone can do these things. It's down to you, your magic, your power. It's your responsibility to become the best wizard or witch you can be, not to live up to some pure blood bullshit that doesn't even affect you if you don't have one of their precious blood line gifts, but to harness that power because it's yours, nobody else's." He said firmly, flicking his open hand towards the flaming writing and dismissing it casually.

"Can you cast a patronus?" The Weasley twins asked together in glee.

Silently flicking his wand towards the middle of the classroom he grinned as Prongs made his entrance, silently ghosting through the classroom and moving around the shocked faces as he prowled around to protect the room.

"Wicked!" The twins breathed out.

"That's Prongs," James grinned back, spotting the shocked recognition that fluttered over the Weasley twins faces. "The Patronus charm is the only charm that will defend you from dementors, also, it just looks plain cool." He added with a laugh. "It's takes a lot of power, but it's worth it to learn, if only to stop you from having your soul sucked out."

None of the class could disagree with that comment, so they all nodded along silently in agreement.

"Power, it's all about power." James explained simply as his patronus faded away. "Voldemort, the pure blood dark lord?" He asked with a snort of amusement. "You all heard me tell everyone he's a half blood in the great hall, he was there, no denial, nothing. He was a half blood with a muggle father, but he rose to power by surrounding himself with pure bloods because they all believed he was a powerful pure blood just because he had one of those bloodline gifts. Parseltongue." He explained. "He's powerful, but not because of his blood or that gift of his. He's powerful because he worked at it, he trained, learnt magic that nobody else had bothered to learn and mastered curses that other people didn't want to. That's where his power comes from, not his blood, not his Parseltongue lineage, but from knowledge, from books." He explained, pointing to the various books scattered around the room.

"Do you all know why Death Eaters can't cast a patronus?" He asked, looking around the room. "Hate, it's that simple." He explained bluntly. "To cast a patronus you've got to envelop yourself in happiness, in love, it's the exact opposite to the killing curse that's fed by hate and anger. If you can't feel love, then all that negative emotion will feed into the patronus and eat you alive. Raczidian was a dark wizard about six hundred years ago, he tried to cast a patronus in an act of evil, the spell literally ate him alive with maggots." He explained with a grimace, noting how the class started whispering amongst themselves at that. "You've heard people say that hate will eat you alive? With magic, that's a fact of life, not just a saying."

"That's why a lot of people believe the ability to cast a patronus charm works as a sort of judge, they believe only truly good people can cast one. It's a pile of dragon shit, as I've known some truly vile people that can cast it as well, but they must have at least been able to love and had their own happy memories, regardless of how horrible they were, or they wouldn't have been able to."

"Magic is directly linked to your emotions, that's why accidental magic happens when you were younger when you were angry or upset." He explained. "The patronus relies on happiness and love. The killing curse? Anger and hate. Everything inside you changes how you use your magic, how that magic responds to what you're trying to do."

"So, now that we've answered the Pure Blood conundrum, shall we get on with shields? Or do you want to start hexing each other and shouting again now that you all know the truth?" James asked, staring around the classroom. "Right then, shields." He grinned when nobody objected.

To both his pleasure and surprise, the rest of the double lesson went surprisingly well. Both the Slytherin and Gryffindor contingents settled down after their little discussion, and both sides seemed to be happy to get on with learning the shield charm to the best of their abilities.

Though he didn't quite get on to getting them to learning the patronus charm, by the end of the class, everyone in the room was casting respectable shields that could stand up to jinxes, hexes and the occasional curse that he tested against them, so for now, he was marking down that lesson as a success in his book and was happy to have a period without any students next before lunch so that he could recover from this hellish hangover and hopefully settle back into a normal existence for the rest of the day.

"Professor Potter?"

"Hmm?" James looked up curiously, having thought he was alone in the classroom as everyone filed out as the bell chimed. "The infamous Weasley twins." He smiled over, noting the two still stood in the classroom. "Ah, you have something of mine?" He asked with a grin, spotting the marauders map that one of the twins was gingerly hiding behind his back.

"We filched it from Filtch in first year," The twin with the map admitted, holding out the map honourably. "You're really Prongs?"

"Sirius Black was Padfoot." James explained, sidestepping that question for now. "Peter Pettigrew was Wormtail." He explained, noting their look of disgust at that name.

"The betrayer!" The twins hissed out in tandem.

"That's him," James laughed, taking the map from the twins. "I'd actually forgotten all about this really." He admitted with a grin.

"Then we return it to you, oh Lord Prongs." The twins grinned, bowing graciously as James held up the map and laughed at their antics.

"How are you two doing anyway?" James grinned, leaning back against his desk and sitting on it comfortably. "Still driving Molly mad? Planning your joke shop yet?" He asked with a smirk.

"Professor Prongs knows all!" One of the twins whispered in awe to the other.

"Speak to Andr... Professor Tonks, potions." James pointed out, grinning at their faces. "You want to learn potions? Master how to mix up sweets and ideas for pranks? Potions is where you're going to learn all of that." He explained with a smile. "I know you two didn't learn much under Snape, but he's gone now, so I don't want to see either of you two faking your grades, alright?" He asked, fixing the two of them with a single look. "Dumbing your assignments down isn't going to fool anyone, except from maybe your mother." He explained with a shrug.

"How... how do you know?" The other twin asked, both of them looking at him in wide eyed shock.

"Just do it," James laughed, ignoring their question. "Speak to Professor Tonks, learn everything you can, and you two will blast through your OWL's without a problem." He explained with a nod before remembering one of Hermione's rants from his Hogwarts years. "Oh, and stop testing your puking sweets on first years? If McGonagall catches you, you'll be for it, and that'd mean..."

"More Howlers from mum!" Both the twins whispered in horror, shuddering at the thought.

"Go on, get out of here, and when you speak to Professor Tonks, tell her I sent you two to her, and then apologise from me for the inconvenience you two are likely to bring to her classroom." James added with a grin.

"You got it!" Both the twins grinned back happily before darting out of the classroom, chatting loudly to each other as they ran into the hallway and tried to outdo each other with various theories about how Professor Prongs seemed to know quite literally everything about them and what they had got upto, and more worryingly, about what they had planned.

"Weasleys," James grinned to himself, watching them leave before throwing his trench-coat on and gently sliding the map into his inside pocket alongside his invisibility cloak.

Things were definitely going to be different this time around. The twins wouldn't leave Hogwarts because of Umbridge, he'd make sure of that, and Fred wouldn't die in the final battle, driving George into a drunken depression that lasted the better part of a year.

No, he was going to ensure both twins survived and got their joke shop this time around, and it was going to be better than ever.

* * *

**Defence Against the Dark Arts Office **

**Second Floor**

**Hogwarts **

James smiled to himself as he happily walked through into the Defence office area that Minerva had set aside for him. The portrait entrance led directly into an office area with a wide desk already set up for him, an owl perch by the window, several shelves and book cases full already, along with three other chairs around the room that he guessed were for guests or students when they came to see him.

Shrugging off his dragon-skin coat for now he looked around, spotting the coat hanger on the side wall behind the portrait door before hanging it up there and moving to investigate further into the suite,

Through the door leading out of the office there was a more casual seating area, with two couches and a few matching chairs, a fire place and a window that looked out onto the grounds below. There were a few cabinets here as well, empty currently, but he was guessing they were for more personal things that past Professors didn't want out on display in their office area.

Moving through the lounge he found a comfortable looking bedroom, with a bed that simply looked like someone had taken one of the beds from the Gryffindor dorm room and super sized it beyond king size. It looked heavenly though and the ruby and gold satin sheets were calling to him already.

Poking his head through the door beyond the bedroom he smiled in satisfaction at the bathroom, it was more than large enough to meet his needs, and even included a large sunk in tub that would be easily big enough for two or three people to enjoy, on his own it was spacious enough to be decadent.

"I could get used to this," He grinned to himself as he wandered back to the office, looking around the professional looking area and getting comfortable there. There was already a large fireplace lit over to one side in the residential area of the office, linked to the floo system so he could come and go as needed.

"Yeah, I could definitely get used to this." He said with a smile as he sat down at the desk in the office, putting the Marauders Map aside for now, as he looked around and got comfortable with the room before standing up and heading over to the fireplace in the residential area, tossing some floo powder into the fire and stepping in, calling out 'Potter Manor' before vanishing in a blast of emerald flames.

Appearing in the manor living room he comfortably stepped out of the fire, looking around curiously to see if he could spot Sirius. "Sirius?" He called out.

"Kitchen, get in here Junior."

James startled at that, walking through to the kitchen and pausing in the doorway, frowning at the sight of Sirius and Amelia sat at the kitchen table together, both with a mug of coffee, and both apparently reading letters that had been left on the table in front of them.

"OK, you two together. I'm worried." He said with a small smirk to show he was kidding.

"You should be," Sirius sighed. "Two owls came this morning, for me." He explained, pointing to one of the pieces of parchment on the table. "Andromeda." He explained before gesturing to the other one. "Narcissa."

"Narcissa Malfoy?" James asked, blinking at that revelation. "Worried feels about right then." He admitted with a frown.

"I Floo'ed Amelia, figured you'd be at school all day." Sirius explained.

"I've got a free before lunch." James frowned thoughtfully. "Putting Andromeda's letter aside, because I'm guessing that's just catching up and talking about Tonks, Nymphadora I mean?"

"Pretty much," Sirius nodded in confirmation.

"What does Narcissa want?" James asked dubiously.

"To arrange a meeting. Me, her and Lucius." Sirius explained, gesturing for James to take the letter and read it for himself. "I already checked for curses, charms, hexes, jinxes, tracking charms, compulsions, everything I could think of when I recognised the handwriting." He explained as James took the parchment.

"Hmmm," James frowned, reading through the excessively polite and professional letter that somehow seemed to take up the entire piece of parchment without actually saying a damn thing. "Doesn't say why she wants to meet up, no reasons, nothing."

"Cissy was always good at this sort of thing," Sirius nodded. "I'm thinking it's a trap."

"Possibly," Amelia mused, nodding in agreement. "But why for you?" She asked, curiously looking at Sirius now. "Surely they'd want James, not you?" She pointed out.

"Narcissa is a sneaky one, I never actually figured out what side she was really on or what her game was." James pointed out. "But... she saved my life last time around, lying to Voldemort so I could pretend to be dead." He frowned, remembering how the Malfoy's had left the final battle on their own terms instead of siding with Voldemort again when it became clear that practically all of Hogwarts was standing against him. "Lying to Voldemort's face took some serious balls, and Lucius Malfoy took her and Draco out of Hogwarts during the last battle, so everyone knew they weren't siding with Voldemort anymore. Think they're playing their own side?" He mused aloud, looking to Amelia.

"I'd say so," Amelia nodded. "Lucius wouldn't want to be caught supporting Voldemort again, not when you've already shown quite publicly that you can beat him. It'd be like rooting for the losing side when you've already seen the quidditch score." She explained. "He's a pure blood bigot, but he's not an idiot, well, not much of one anyway. He'll want his family to survive, and being linked with Voldemort again would throw his imperius defence into question, and he'd stand to lose everything."

"He almost did last time," James nodded in agreement. "He lost most of his fortune buying off the Wizengamot to keep his family out of Azkaban for their crimes."

"So you think Lucius is trying to hedge his bets this time, so when you defeat Voldemort again, he isn't on the losing team?" Sirius asked, nodding slowly as he mused that over. "I could see that actually. He wouldn't want to be openly seen supporting Voldemort, not after you punched the snot out of him during the sorting ceremony. You made quite the impression with that you know?"

"Thank you," James smirked over.

"You don't... you don't think he came back with you... do you?" Sirius asked, the thought passing over his face as he tried to think about what someone like Malfoy could do with over twenty years of future knowledge at their disposal.

"No," James shook his head quickly at that. "If Malfoy had the same knowledge I had, then he'd have been at the school in the sorting ceremony to side with Voldemort. He'd have stopped your trial or just outright killed you so Draco could claim the family vaults as part of his Black inheritance." He explained. "No, something else is going on here."

"I can't argue with that," Amelia nodded in agreement. "Lucius was honestly shocked when Minister Fudge spoke about Voldemort's return and pushed the vote to remove Dumbledore from the castle. He hadn't known a damn thing about it until he got faced with the fallout of it all, if he'd have known what was coming, he'd have had some hint, but it was a real shock to him to hear about it from Cornelius."

"Alright, so he's not from the future, he's just your every day pure blood idiot then." Sirius said with a small smile. "So, what do we do with him? Meet him? Find out what his game is?"

"Find out what he wants first," James nodded, looking to Sirius now. "Write back to Narcissa, asking what she wants the meeting for. We all go, I'll stay under the cloak and watch, just in case it's a trap."

"I don't think even Lucius would be stupid enough to try something if I turned up alongside Sirius." Amelia pointed out.

"Maybe, but I'm not going to risk everything on a Malfoy NOT doing something stupid." James countered with a smirk. "Find out what Narcissa wants, we can plan from there." James said, looking over at Sirius.

"Got it," Sirius nodded, standing up from the table and heading off to find some parchment to write back to Narcissa.

"Wait," Amelia said quickly, causing Sirius to pause in the kitchen doorway. "Tomorrow night? Any chance you could... vanish for the evening?" She asked hesitantly.

"Tomorrow?" Sirius asked, cocking his head to the side thoughtfully.

"I invited Julia for a meal, and to talk." Amelia explained, looking to James.

"Ah, that." Sirius nodded. "Alright, I'll vanish for the night." He said with a smirk. "Been meaning to get back into Grimmauld anyway and start going through the Black Library."

"Bring the books here if you want, just check them through for curses and anything nasty first." James said with a nod to Sirius. "Keep the nasty ones charmed shut, I don't want the mini-me or Susan stumbling onto any of them by accident. Expand the library if you want, I know you know how to add an extra level or two to the room." He mused with a thoughtful smile before clicking his fingers. "Actually, make sure you grab everything on Horcruxes, anything you can find, rituals, removal, everything. I want to find out more about these damn things, maybe see if there's any way we can actually remove one from a distance without toasting the thing with fiendfyre."

"Gotcha," Sirius grinned over. "Looting my family's library to add it to the Potter library, sounds like a great night to me." He added with a laugh, leaving the kitchen entirely to go and find some parchment.

"He knows?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow towards James.

"I talked with him about stuff last night," James admitted with a small smile. "And ex's, and witches in general, well, wizards in Sirius' case, and a whole lot of firewhiskey." He admitted, massaging his temples. "Which I admit, I'm actually regretting right now."

"Ah," Amelia smirked. "Did it help?" She asked curiously.

"A bit," James admitted with a sigh. "He answered a few questions I had, then we got to drinking. Which felt really weird, because we never did that sort of thing before." He explained.

"Maybe it helped both of you then," Amelia smiled, leaning over and stealing a kiss from James. "Tomorrow night, dinner for three then?" She asked with a small smirk.

"Alright," James nodded. "I'll cook something up, you'll have to bring her over though."

"I can do that, you just take care of the food and everything else." Amelia grinned, standing up from the table. "I should get back to the office, let me know what Sirius gets in reply alright?"

"Sure thing," James smiled, getting another kiss from Amelia before she headed out into the living room and floo'ed back to The Ministry. "Wait, dinner and everything else?" He asked himself aloud. "What's everything else?" He asked with a frown.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

For young Harry Potter, he was having the absolute time of his life. Even just sitting at the Hufflepuff tables for lunch surrounded by friends was an experience that only two months ago, he could only dreamed of having.

It had only really been a month and a bit since his older self had come into his life, but in that month, his life had changed so drastically that some mornings he wanted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He had a family, a real family. It was a twisted sort of family that belonged in some sort of science fiction TV series with time travel and magic, but it was his, and he was constantly amazed by it.

He even had a godfather who kept telling him stories about his parents, he had his own bedroom, a real bedroom with a bed, bookshelves, a desk of his own and everything! Living at his grandparents house with his older self and his 'Uncle Sirius' had been absolutely fantastic so far, and he wouldn't trade it for the world.

His older self was still a complete puzzle to him though. There were certain things he said or did, that Harry just couldn't understand or couldn't see himself ever understanding. The fact his older self was kissing Miss Bones was still a bit weird, but he figured that that was going to be something he'd likely understand when he got older.

He even had friends now, Susan had been amazing, and because his older self was dating Miss Bones, she was practically his sister the way he saw it, something they had both latched onto and were more than happy to consider each other as family. He'd learnt early on that Susan's past was very much like his own, almost identical actually, with Voldemort killing her parents the same way he had killed his parents.

The only difference was that Susan had grown up in a loving family with Miss Bones, where he'd been thrown to the Dursley's and then treated like a slave for god knows how many years. It gave them a foundation to build on, and something to talk about, both understanding what it was like to not know their parents or know what they were like, both having the same dream about one day meeting their parents, even though they both knew it could never happen.

"Um... Harry?"

Harry looked up, broken out of his thoughts to where he saw a Gryffindor coming over, looking pretty nervous as he looked up at him. "Hi?" He smiled up.

"I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom?" Neville half asked, introducing himself.

"Oh, oh yeah, my dad mentioned you'd come and say hi sometime." Harry grinned, waving towards some spare area on the tables. "Come on, grab a seat and join us."

"Thanks," Neville smiled over shyly.

"That's Susan," Harry pointed out where Susan was sat opposite him chatting with Hannah. "And Hannah." He explained, introducing them both. "My dad's Neville's godfather." He explained when Susan and Hannah both gave him a questioning look.

That was another chunk of weirdness that he was firmly putting down to his future self that he didn't understand, but his older counterpart had told him that he was taking over the role of Neville's godfather and just to go with it, and while it was a bit weird for him to think about, he'd resolved himself not to puzzle over it too much and simply make friends with Neville anyway.

"Ohhh," Susan nodded, waving across to Neville, both her and Hannah knew how important godparents were in the magical world.

"You OK?" Harry asked, shuffling down a bit at the Hufflepuff table so that Neville could slide in and chat with them all.

"Yeah... I'm... I'm OK." Neville stammered out.

"Dad says Neville's some sort of herbology prodigy," Harry explained to Susan and Hannah. "So if we ever need any help with that lesson..." He trailed off, laughing at Neville's shocked face. "What?" He asked, looking at Neville.

"I'm... I'm not... I never spoke to your dad about my greenhouse?" Neville asked nervously.

"Dad just knows this stuff, I try not to think about it too much." Harry admitted, and it was the truth. His older self knew practically everything about what was going to happen in his life, and it was actually disturbing to know that his older self knew about things before they were going to happen.

It was definitely something he tried not to think too much about, because that led to very weird thoughts about any bad things that happened, had his older self let them happen on purpose, and simply not cared? He very rarely liked where those sorts of thoughts led, so he intentionally made sure he didn't follow that thought train too often.

"His defence class was amazing," Hannah nodded quickly. "We're going to be learning so much from him."

"Yeah," Susan grinned in agreement, having already had nearly a month's worth of tutoring from Mr Potter over the summer before school had even started.

"So, what lessons have you got this afternoon?" Harry asked, looking towards Neville and starting to get to know him, chatting easily about lessons as the two started to form the start of a friendship over their lunch.


	17. Chapter 17

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**5th September**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

**Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom **

For young Hermione Jean Granger, her short time at Hogwarts so far had been one giant shock to the system after another, leaving her floundering as several of her long held beliefs were shattered one after another.

It was several months ago now that Professor McGonagall had turned up at her home to talk to her parents, the giant shock of her being a witch had sent the entire family spinning as she tried to factor that change into her plans for her life.

In the short period she'd had before coming to Hogwarts, she'd read everything she could about magic, Hogwarts, and the magical world that she was apparently now part of, and the day she'd boarded the Hogwarts Express, she was certain she was going to be sorted into Gryffindor where the great Albus Dumbledore had been sorted.

In her books, everything she'd read about Professor Dumbledore painted him as a larger than life intellectual giant of a wizard, a genius who had studied everything from Alchemy to Xylomancy and was respected for his wisdom and power around the world.

He'd become a sort of hero to her after reading everything she could about the man, and true to form, she'd put her mind to it and had been sorted into Gryffindor house like Professor Dumbledore had been, exactly as she'd wanted.

And that night, minutes after she'd been sorted, her entire world had been shattered.

James Potter had revealed himself being still alive, that alone had her questions several of the books she'd read. Every book she'd bought about The Fall of The Dark Arts had mentioned The Potter's and their heroic sacrifice to save their child. Harry Potter had several chapters all to himself, chapters that now she had realised were all complete lies, leading her to wonder how much of the rest of the book had been fabricated as well?

But the shocks had kept coming. James Potter had confronted Professor Dumbledore and accused him of horrible things, she'd been waiting, hopeful that somehow this was all a mistake and that Professor Dumbledore would be able to explain everything, but instead of actually explaining things like an intellectual, Professor Dumbledore had attacked James Potter with magic, endangering all of the students in the great hall in the process.

She'd been unable to believe it when Professor Potter had defeated Professor Dumbledore, after all, Professor Dumbledore was supposed to be the most powerful wizard alive, but Professor Potter had won the duel with him as if he was nothing more than an annoyance.

That alone had shaken her beliefs, causing her to question quite literally everything she'd read so far, then the biggest shock of all, Professor Potter had confronted another teacher that had revealed himself to be Voldemort in disguise all along.

She hadn't been able to take her eyes off of the duel that had followed, even with Professor McGonagall and Madame Bones protecting them she'd been terrified, but again Professor Potter had come out victorious and had banished Voldemort from the castle.

James Potter was still alive, when every book she'd read said that he'd been killed by Voldemort a decade ago, giving his life to protect his son. Voldemort was still alive, and had been in the school she had become a student of, and Professor Dumbledore was nowhere near the great man she'd read about, and had been fired from his position as Headmaster that same night.

With everything that had happened, she felt justified in being somewhat off for the first few days of school, regaining her balance so to speak as she tried to figure out where everything had gone wrong.

Everything she'd read was wrong, it was all lies and had been made up for reasons she still couldn't figure out, the stories in the Daily Prophet clearly showed the truth, and she'd been there, she'd witnessed it, so she couldn't deny the truth of what the papers were reporting.

"Come on now, I bet all of you have wanted to hex a teacher before right?"

Hermione pulled herself out of her thoughts with a shocked expression on her face as she looked up to where Professor Potter was smiling as he looked down around the classroom to the eager faces of her classmates. She was almost ashamed to admit she'd been so deep in thought that she hadn't been paying attention to the lesson at all.

With that horrifying thought pushing her worries out of her mind, she set her focus purely on the lesson ahead, she could worry about regaining her equilibrium later on when there wasn't a Professor around to learn from.

"The stinging jinx is quite a simple one, a milder version of the stinging hex that doesn't cause swelling, completely harmless, it feels like a pinch or a swat on the arm." Professor Potter explained. "It's a straight forward jinx to learn, no want movements, just a simple point cast and the incantation, pungo." He explained, making sure the entire class had heard him.

Hermione nodded along to that, making sure she jotted down the incantation along with the fact that there wasn't any wand motions needed to cast it. She also added notes on her parchment relating it to the stinging hex to look up later on, making another note that Professor Potter apparently liked a lot of minor hexes or jinxes that were related to more powerful spells that they would learn later on.

So if she could figure out what curses and hexes had less powerful jinx versions, she would very likely be able to figure out some of the jinxes they would be taught about as the year went on and be able to practice ahead of schedule.

"So, come on, stand up."

Looking around the class she noted a few of the Slytherins jumping up from their seats eagerly, she shared a look with Neville who was sharing her desk before both of them slowly stood up from their desk to stand with everyone else.

A quick wave of his wand and the various desks around the classroom moved to either side, giving them a large open space to work with before Professor Potter moved to stand just in front of his desk at the front of the room.

"I want all of you to come up, one by one, and cast a stinging hex at me." He explained with a smile. "I'll shield it, I just want you all to be able to cast one."

Hermione was predictably horrified at this idea, the very idea of casting a jinx at a Professor went against everything she believed in.

"I reckon he can take it," Neville whispered over, nudging Hermione as they got into line with everyone else in the classroom. "I mean, Professor Potter can fight Voldemort and Dumbledore, what chance do any of us have against his shields?" He asked.

Hermione slowly nodded at that, worrying on her bottom lip as she contemplated what Neville was saying. It was perfectly reasonable to understand that Professor Potter could shield against a first year's jinx, after all, he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, and had faced down a Dark Lord himself, so his shields must be exceptional.

She heard a quick "Pungo!" from the front of the line before a "Great Job Daphne!" from Professor Potter, and had to assume that whoever 'Daphne' was, she'd managed to cast the jinx successfully and that Professor Potter was fine.

As the line went down there were a few times when the queue paused for a bit, with Professor Potter helping those who had trouble with it and casting the jinx alongside them for a few moments before letting them try again, but with his help, it seemed everyone in the class so far had been able to cast the jinx no problem.

She was nearly at the front of the queue with only Neville, Lavender and a few others in front of her, when her eyes went wide as a ghostly silver apparition bounded into the room through the window.

She had to blink a few times as she tried to focus on the ghostly form, recognising it as a fox after several moments as it ran through the class to stand in front of Professor Potter. "Diagon Alley's under attack, Death Eaters!" came out of the ghostly fox in a no-nonsense voice, and Professor Potter was grabbing his coat from behind his desk before the voice had even finished speaking.

"Class dismissed!" Professor Potter called out as he swung his heavy coat on and vanished from the classroom with a crack, apparating out of the Hogwarts grounds and punching through the Hogwarts wards like a bolt of lightning.

"Wha..." Hermione turned, looking at Neville who was staring at the space Professor Potter had been in with a worried and shocked expression on his face. "What was that?"

"Apparating," Neville blinked in shock, answering automatically.

"But... you can't apparate in Hogwarts, it says so in Hogwarts: A History." Hermione countered quickly.

"I don't think that matters when you're that powerful Hermione," Neville whispered, turning his attention to look out the window to where the ghostly fox had come in from, the worried expression on his face settling in as he tried to imagine what was going on in Diagon Alley right now.

Predictably the entire class had broken into whispers and talking, with everyone now talking about where Professor Potter had gone, how he'd gone, and most importantly, why.

* * *

**Diagon Alley**

**London **

Amelia Bones was not having the best day, the attack on Diagon Alley couldn't have come at a worse time as far as she was concerned, but she'd managed to get there with five Aurors as soon as they'd been notified, four Aurors now, as one of them had already fallen to the savage Fenrir Greyback, leaving her to struggle to deal with the werewolf as the other four Aurors struggled with the three Death Eaters that were terrorising the Alley.

Sadly, Greyback adopted the same fighting technique that James had, and had got in close before she'd managed to get more than a single curse cast, leaving her struggling to fight off the stronger werewolf as he grappled and forced her around, using his height and weight to position himself in a stronger angle where she was struggling to ward off his blows.

"James, where the hell are..." She gasped out, gripping on to both of Greyback's wrists as he tried again to force his hands around her neck, she was nearly being forced onto her knees as an unfamiliar purple curse shot past her face, missing her face by several inches as it impacted Greyback on the side of the head, causing a misty explosion of blood, bone, and various scattered pieces that she didn't even want to think about.

Two more curses swept through the air and blasted past her as she turned to see who her rescuer was, breathing out a sigh of relief as she instantly recognised the copper coloured dragon skin trench-coat sweeping through the alley towards her. "Nice of you to make it." She smiled up as James let off two more curses, blowing off one Death Eater's arm entirely and blasting them away from where they'd been pushing forwards towards a fallen Auror.

"Wouldn't miss it," James smirked over, deflecting a curse easily and reflecting it back on it's caster, sending another Death Eater sprawling to the ground screaming in agony. "Was that...?" He trailed off, glancing down at the bloody mess of a body that had slumped by Amelia's feet.

"Greyback," Amelia nodded in confirmation, looking around the Alley to where her remaining four Aurors were now taking control and had the other two Death Eaters stunned and on the ground, though one of them was already missing most of his right arm from the look of things, and another had a chunk of granite conjured around their feet so they couldn't even move. "Your work?" She asked, raising an eyebrow towards James in a resigned sigh, annoyed that James had managed to dispatch three Death Eaters so quickly when her team of Aurors had struggled from the start.

"Huh," James frowned, glaring down at the body of the werewolf. "Didn't expect him to make an appearance yet."

"Yet?" Amelia asked, narrowing her eyes as she tried to wipe away the blood splatter from her face with the sleeve of her purple robe.

"He's about five years early," James nodded, watching carefully to make sure the Aurors got the three Death Eaters that were still alive gathered together and stunned. "Wonder who we have here?" He mused aloud as he followed Amelia over to the gathering. "Dawlish." He muttered, recognising one of the Aurors easily enough. "Shacklebolt." He nodded over to another.

"Potter," Shacklebolt nodded respectfully back. "Nice work." He said with a small twitch of his lips.

"We're supposed to stun them and take them into custody, I should be arresting you right now." Dawlish muttered, glaring across at James.

"Try it, go on, I dare you." James bit out, glaring across at Dawlish and waiting for him to do something stupid.

"Boys, enough." Amelia bit out, stepping away from them and flicking her wand towards the three Death Eaters, vanishing their masks so she could see who she was dealing with. "Oh Merlin!" She muttered, staring in disbelief at the group now that she could see their faces.

"Bugger," Dawlish grunted, looking up at Shacklebolt who was staring at the Death Eaters without any hint of surprise on his face.

"Albert Runcorn and Walden Macnair, are Death Eaters?" Amelia asked in shock, recognising the two men from The Ministry instantly.

"Angus Crabbe," James identified the third, remembering Crabbe easily enough from his trial after the final battle of Hogwarts. "Death Eaters working for The Ministry, I'm shocked." He drawled out sarcastically, glaring across at Dawlish and causing Amelia to glare at him for his tone.

"That's enough from you," Amelia shook her head in annoyance, watching as James knelt down to roll up their sleeves, displaying the black Dark Mark tattoo on all three of their arms for everyone to see. "Working with Greyback as well."

"Voldemort must have gone to Greyback for support, since he's still floating around like a ghost, he'd need some muscle to scare people into following him again." James reasoned aloud.

"That sounds Logical," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "Runcorn and Macnair?" She asked, pondering what motives they could have for doing something like this.

"Returning to their master to lick his boots," James snorted, shaking his head. "Probably just trying to scare people again, attack in daylight, get people scared, so it draws off the Aurors before The Ministry implements the new contracts."

"You can't believe they're Death Eaters!" Dawlish defended the two quickly.

"You saw them, attacking, fighting alongside Greyback!" James bit out, snarling at Dawlish. "Their masks, the tattoo, is that not enough for you?" He demanded, stepping forwards and getting into Dawlish's face. "Or are you going to let them bullshit their way out of this, the Imperius defence is popular right now I hear? Maybe I should be checking your arm too?" He sneered over. "If these two try claiming that, I'm calling for an honour duel right there, on them, and the idiots that let them go." He said firmly.

"You... you can't do that!" Dawlish spluttered out.

"Try me," James sneered down at him. "You'll be top of my list, I'll call it out right in front of the Wizengamot, I'll even invite the Prophet, everyone I can to watch me take you apart." He bit out.

"Dawlish, Shack, take these three back to holding cells." Amelia interrupted, moving to stand between James and Dawlish to prevent either of them from pulling wands on each other. "Full interrogation, I want them all bleeding Veritaserum by the time I get back."

"Crabbe too?" Shacklebolt asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Definitely," Amelia nodded. "I want names, dates, victims, everything I can get from all three of them, including why they were here with Greyback and what they were planning."

Shacklebolt nodded at that, grabbing onto Albert Runcorn and Crabbe before apparating away, with Dawlish following quickly behind him with Walden Macnair's unconscious body, leaving Amelia and James alone with Greyback's body. "Dawlish?" Amelia asked, turning to James now with an expression that told him he'd better have a damn good explanation for his attitude.

"Pure blood bigot, when Voldemort took over The Ministry, he was one of his Aurors in charge of rounding up muggle born kids. He did it proudly, harassing their families and taking them in for Umbridge to torture and throw into camps." James explained with a dark look. "I couldn't tell you if he's got the Dark Mark or not, but even if he doesn't, he's as dark as the rest of the bastards that followed Voldemort."

"I wouldn't have guessed," Amelia muttered, looking over to where Dawlish had apparated away.

"He was supposed to take in Augusta Longbottom down before the final fight, Augusta blew off one of his legs with a blasting curse, had him in St Mungo's during the final battles." James explained. "He never saw a trial, he vanished like a coward when I'd defeated Voldemort. Probably knew I'd be able to identify him and point him out as one of Voldemort's followers." He said with a sigh. "Shacklebolt's got his head so far up Dumbledore's arse, I can never tell which one of them is speaking when he opens his mouth." He explained with a shrug. "You noticed he wasn't surprised when you unmasked them? I'll bet he and Dumbledore already knew about the Death Eaters in the Aurors, they just kept the information to themselves until they could use it for their own ends."

"I'll keep an eye on them," Amelia promised firmly.

James simply shrugged at that, already having decided that Dawlish was on the Death Eaters side, it was as simple as that as far as he was concerned. "Too many people got second, third, whatever chances last time, I'm not giving them any." He said firmly.

"I noticed," Amelia muttered dryly, looking down at Greyback's body. "There'll probably be a reward in it for you." She said thoughtfully. "Greyback's been top of the Undesirables list for years now."

James shrugged at that, not really caring in the least.

"You'll have to come in, write up a report on all of this." Amelia explained. "You can floo Minerva from The Ministry and explain what's going on."

"Hnh," James nodded, agreeing with that. He remembered all too well how the Auror department ran on paperwork just as much as the rest of The Ministry. "Fine." He grunted, reaching down to grab Greyback's body. "After you." He nodded, waiting for Amelia to apparate away before he twisted on the spot and vanished, pulling Greyback's body with him to The Ministry.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

"Have you heard?"

Harry looked up from his charms book, spotting Daphne Greengrass standing at the table and looking down at him.

"About Diagon Alley?" Daphne prompted him, noticing the lack of recognition on his face she quickly sat down at the library table. "There was trouble there earlier on, Professor Potter got called away half way through the lesson."

"Trouble?" Harry asked quickly.

"Death Eaters," Daphne whispered, looking around the library to make sure nobody else was listening in. "I've even heard rumours of werewolves as well."

"My dad, did he..." Harry whispered, trying not to think about his older self fighting down an army of werewolves.

"Nobody's heard anything yet," Daphne shook her head. "I'm sure he's alright though, The Ministry would have sent word if anything bad had happened to him."

"Yeah, I guess..." Harry nodded, trying to reassure himself of that, but his older self's comments about The Ministry hadn't installed Harry with much trust in them at all.

"Um, Harry?"

Both Harry and Daphne looked up, spotting Neville and Hermione approaching the table cautiously.

"I was trying to find you, but... I... I guess you've already heard?" Neville asked, giving Daphne a curious glance.

"About Diagon Alley?" Hermione clarified in a quiet voice.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Daphne told me about it." He explained. "My dad's gone to fight werewolves." He whispered, trying to reason that out in his head.

"I'm sure it isn't that bad," Hermione tried to console him. "I don't... I mean... I don't know your dad that well, but he's got to be good at what he does right?"

"He's the best," Harry said quickly, thinking back to everything that he'd seen his older self do.

"He'll have support there too right? Madame Bones will be there with the Aurors as well." Daphne explained. "She was probably the one that called for his help."

"If she needed help, my dad would be there." Harry said with a firm nod, knowing how disturbingly close Miss Bones and his older self were. "He'll be fine. I know it." He said, mostly to reassure himself as Neville and Hermione took seats at the table as well, electing to stay with Harry until word got back to them about what had happened.

It didn't take long for the four to start talking to each other, with Harry introducing Hermione and Neville to Daphne, and Neville introducing the two to Hermione properly, leading to Harry and Hermione quickly bonding over the differences between the muggle world and the magical world, while leaving Neville and Daphne giving each other bewildered looks at the various subjects that came up between the two.

As the afternoon went on, Neville and Harry both anxiously awaited news, with Neville, Susan and Hermione making sure not to leave Harry alone for too long, all knowing that Professor Potter was Harry's only living relative and how bad it must be for him to wait without knowing what had happened.

* * *

**Department of Magical Law Enforcement **

**Ministry of Magic**

**London **

Lounging lazily in one of the Auror chairs, James quite happily glared across the room to where Mafalda Hopkirk had come in to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She met his eyes for barely a fraction of a second before flinching and fleeing from the floor, running back to the elevators and nearly knocking over two Aurors on her way.

Satisfied with that, he leaned back on his chair and kicked his feet up, depositing his heavy leather boots on the desk in front of them and idly casting cleaning charms over them to get rid of the dirt, blood and viscera that was coating them after today's battle.

It was oddly nostalgic being back in the Auror Department after a few months, it wasn't HIS Auror department, that much was for certain, but it was familiar and comfortable enough for him to relax here and think back to all the times he'd spent evenings here pouring over paperwork while working on a case.

From here he could even see through to where his old office was, though currently it was a damn sight tidier than he'd ever managed to keep it back in his time. Though when it had been his office, he'd actually had a giant cat scratching post in the corner. It had been a joke gift from a few of the Aurors when he'd been promoted to Head Auror, and he'd kept the thing around just because it made him laugh, and used it as a pin board to attach various parchments and notices to.

He had to admit to himself that before he'd come back in time, he hadn't exactly had the healthiest lifestyle. Looking back at it, he'd thrown himself into the Aurors straight out of Hogwarts because it had been expected of him, and he'd simply followed those expectations like a little lost lamb. He could blame other people of course, nobody had ever spoken to him about career decisions or asked what he wanted to do with his life, but the fact was, he'd followed the crowd and buckled to their expectations like a sheep, just like he accused so many other people of doing.

Had he been happy being an Auror? Maybe, it was a good life and had fit him, he couldn't deny that, but maybe if he hadn't thrown himself into his work so much he could have been there for Hermione more. Maybe he could have seen how depressed and disheartened with the magical world she had gotten, maybe he could have helped somehow?

Of course, if he'd never become an Auror, he wouldn't have been thrown back in time and given a chance to change all of that, so maybe it was fate or god, or time, or whatever, giving him a second chance to get set things right.

"Potter,"

James looked up idly, not bothering to move from his comfortable position with his feet up where he could watch over almost the entire Auror department. He recognised Shacklebolt's voice without even looking, but he could see the hesitant expression on the man's face as he looked down at him.

"Shack," James replied, simply acknowledging him. "Let me guess, Dumbledore's spoken to you, he wants me to meet him? Forgive him maybe? Give him another chance? Did he give you some spiel about how forgiveness was the hardest lesson to learn? Maybe some of his usual lies about everything he's done he's done for the Greater Good? You know, the usual bullshit that comes pouring out of his mouth?"

He spotted the frown flicker across Shacklebolt's face and he knew he'd hit the nail right on the head.

"Albus is..."

"Tell him thanks, but no thanks." James interrupted, holding his hand up to silence Shacklebolt. "I've got no time for that manipulative old bastard, he can go crucio himself for all I care."

"Albus did a lot for you." Kingsley frowned, glaring down at James.

"Albus Dumbledore kidnapped Harry from Sirius, put him in an abusive home until I rescued him. He stole the vault key from the cottage, ransacked the place not hours after Voldemort had been there." James bit out, glaring back at Kingsley. "He let Sirius rot in Azkaban when he was the Chief Warlock, he's always got his own agenda, and I really don't have time for wading through his verbal bullshit right now."

"He wants to meet you." Kingsley said simply, ignoring James' rant.

"He can go stuff it up his arse." James grunted, shaking his head. "Actually, you want to give him a message, fine?" He glared up before twisting in the chair, pulling his feet off the desk before sitting up properly.

Grabbing a quill and some parchment from the desk he quickly wrote out The Prophecy on the parchment, hating every word of it as he scribbled it down from memory. It was something he could never forget, those simple lines of words that had ruined his entire life thanks to Albus bloody Dumbledore.

Once he'd finished writing The Prophecy down, he noted down to the side of it his own interpretation of The Prophecy, twisting the facts and phrases around until it sounded like the only subject of The Prophecy was Harry, and the Dark Lord in The Prophecy that Harry was going to vanquish was actually Albus Dumbledore.

"Go on, give him that, I'd actually pay for the memory of his face when he reads it." James muttered, standing up from the desk and thrusting the parchment out for Kingsley to take.

He watched as Kingsley read The Prophecy, his eyebrows quirking up, then both eyebrows raised and his eyes went wide as he looked up from James' notes towards him with a horrified expression.

It only took a bit of creative license with two lines. Harry being 'marked by Dumbledore' by Dumbledore kidnapping him from his family and forcing him into an abusive home for a decade. Him being 'his equal' for his fame, the stories of Harry defeating Voldemort as a baby, and Dumbledore defeating Grindlewald.

Then 'neither can live while the other survives' explained away as Harry could never live his life properly while Albus was pulling the strings and manipulating his life for him.

A final touch added himself as 'the power Dumbledore knows not', it was a stretch to include himself as someone Dumbledore didn't know, but fudged it as him being there when Dumbledore had thought him dead, and everything he'd learnt in the decade away from him.

"Tell your Lord and Master, if he comes near me or Harry again, or sends another of his followers, I'll take that to the Daily Prophet, the Wizarding Wireless, everywhere. I'll sign it myself, hell, I'll pose for a picture of it with Harry." James bit out.

"This... this would ruin him." Kingsley said softly, looking down at the parchment with a worried expression.

"I don't forgive, and I don't forget Shack." James said firmly. "Make sure he knows that." He bit out, making sure Kingsley was paying attention to him. "Albus Dumbledore is my enemy, just as sure as Voldemort is. Once those contracts Amelia sorts out come into play, you're going to have to pick a side, Dumbledore or The Ministry."

"Albus has done a lot for me." Kingsley explained.

"And I'll bet he cashed in every single favour," James sneered up to the taller man. "Spying for him on Auror investigations I'll bet? Maybe sabotaging a few? Dropping investigations into his friends and allies? That's it isn't it, you take care of any investigations into the school? Stop the Auror department from properly investigating attacks when Death Eater spawn attack decent students. Can't have the Aurors looking too close at Hogwarts, or they might find out how bad it actually is there." He snorted, shaking his head. "Bet you've let Mundungus Fletcher get off a few times as well right? You've never fought for what you believe in once, have you?" He demanded, seeing the truth ripple over Kingsley's face. "Just happy to tow the line, keep the status quo, make sure nobody rocks the boat."

"Potter, there are things..."

"I don't care," James interrupted with a dismissive wave. "Like I told someone else, Voldemort has his Death Eaters, Dumbledore has his little sycophants, you're both as bad as each other." He explained with a shrug. "Make sure Dumbledore gets that, the next time I write it down, it's going to The Prophet." He said, turning away from Shacklebolt and walking away, leaving the taller man stood in the Auror department with a pained and stunned expression on his face.

He didn't have to walk far before he ran into Amelia, giving her a quick explanation of what had happened he explained that he needed to blow off some steam and get out of here for a bit.

It was a quick conversation as Amelia didn't really need James around anymore, she'd already got the statements and signatures she needed from him and would be busy deal with interrogations for the rest of the afternoon anyway.

Leaving the Auror department, James quite happily just stuck his hands in his jeans pockets as he strode out of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and out into The Ministry corridors, heading straight for the elevators and ignoring the hushed whispers that followed him in the corridor.

"Which floor?" The attendant asked quietly, noting James' angry face as he got into the elevator.

"Department of Mysteries." James bit out, spotting a few worried expressions on the other witches and wizards in the elevator before they quickly rushed out, leaving him alone in the elevator with the attendant.

"L... Level Nine," The attendant stammered out, closing the elevator grate before setting the elevator in motion.

James simply grunted in recognition, keeping his hands in his jeans pocket as he watched the floors fly by out of the grate covering the elevator entrance.

He hadn't really meant to throw everything at Kingsley like that, not really anyway. He'd just been a suitable target, a reminder of everything that had gone wrong in his life the first time around.

He'd simply been there at a time when he'd been thinking about how Hermione had been pushed out of the magical world, and the Kingsley in his time hadn't lifted a finger to try and change things so that Hermione would be awarded the Order of Merlin she deserved.

Kingsley was just another cog in the wheel, he hadn't bothered to try and change things, he'd just fought for the same thing Dumbledore had, to keep things exactly as they were, stagnant, bigoted, unfair and biased. He'd kept all the same pure blood biased laws on the books, just like Fudge had, and hadn't bothered trying to make their world a better place one bit. He'd just enjoyed his time as Minister, in a peaceful time when Harry, Hermione and everyone else had given up so much for everything they'd fought for.

He didn't hate Kingsley, not like he hated Dumbledore, but the anger was still there. After all, Kingsley had been one of the ones that had sided with Dumbledore and kept him locked up at Privet Drive, he'd been one of the Order of the Phoenix that had kept Sirius locked up in the home he hated instead of trying to get him a trial and his freedom, and as a Lead Auror, that should have been his job, not following Dumbledore's orders like a good little puppy.

Everything was clearer with nearly twenty years hindsight, and things he'd simply accepted at the time were things he knew were wrong and stunk to high heaven right now.

"L... L... Level Nine."

James nodded in acknowledgement at the attendant as the voice brought him out of his musings, waiting for the attendant to pull open the grate before he stepped out, raising an eyebrow at the Unspeakable that was waiting at the elevators for him.

"I expected you sooner."

"Sorry to disappoint," James smirked back at the shadowed face. He'd got used to dealing with Unspeakables a long time ago, their nondescript robes and shadowed charms were specifically designed to unnerve people and hide their appearance, even right down to charms to change their voices down to a neutral and genderless tone to prevent people from even guessing if it was even a witch or wizard underneath them all.

"The Hall of Prophecies, you're here to confirm there's a prophecy for your son." The Unspeakable said simply, as if it was an easy conclusion to come to.

"Might as well," James nodded, falling in step to walk alongside the Unspeakable as they ambled through the corridors of the Department of Mysteries.

The Unspeakable didn't say anything else, they simply walked in silence, leading James through the corridors where James took idle note of the various rooms like the Chamber of Love and the chambers where Time Turners were kept and studied.

It wasn't until they passed the Death Chamber that James shuddered, pausing for half a step to look inside at the fabled archway that had cost Sirius his life in another time, swearing to himself that he would never let Sirius come down here this time around.

"You know who made The Prophecy? The Date? Who it was made to?" The Unspeakable asked as they led James through into The Hall of Prophecy.

James almost managed to resist the urge to snort at the question, but it escaped him anyway along with a roll of his eyes. "Sybill Trelawney to Albus Too Many Names Dumbledore." He explained, drawing a huff of laughter from the Unspeakable.

"Date?" The Unspeakable asked. Drawing James into The Hall and leading him through the various shelved corridors that made up almost a maze contained within the hall.

"Sometime mid nineteen eighty, probably June or July." James rattled off. It was easy enough of a supposition to make. Trelawney had made The Prophecy during a job interview for her position at Hogwarts, so it had to be during the summer months before school started. Likewise, The Prophecy spoke of his birth, so it had to have been made before he was born.

Putting those clues together put it in the summer holiday of nineteen eighty easily enough, it didn't take a genius to put it together. Since he knew Trelawney had started teaching at Hogwarts after the summer of nineteen eighty, it was pretty obvious when The Prophecy had been made.

"That narrows it down." The Unspeakable nodded, moving quicker now as they led James through the various paths that criss crossed each other, making sure not to disturb the various Prophecy Orbs on the shelves around them.

It didn't take long for The Unspeakable to find the correct shelf and narrow it down, finding the right Prophecy Orb on a low down shelf with a brass plaque in front of it. "Row Ninety Seven." The Unspeakable announced as they brought out their wand, flicking it up with a silent lumos so they could both read the plaque on the Prophecy Orb.

"S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D. Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter." The Unspeakable announced.

"Who wrote in Harry Potter?" James asked, idly curious as he'd never actually figured that out before. Staring into the swimming wisps of smoke inside the Prophecy Orb, he had a small urge to keep the thing as a paper weight. If only to see Dumbledore's reaction when he told him what he'd done with the damn thing.

"No idea," The Unspeakable answered simply. "Only the people The Prophecy refers to can remove The Orb from our care." They explained bluntly. "You will have to bring your son here to hear what it says."

"Yeah, not going to happen." James muttered, shaking his head at that as he reached out and plucked the orb from it's platform, holding it easily in his hand as he tossed it gently in the air, bouncing it in his hand casually. "Imagine that." He said with a smirk.

"It appears the identification was wrong," The Unspeakable said after a moment's pause, watching James for any sign of the Madness Curse affecting him. "You are the one The Prophecy speaks of."

"Yeah," James nodded, tossing the Prophecy Orb in his hand again.

"You already know what it says." The Unspeakable said, making it a statement of fact instead of a question. "It is responsible for everything you have been through."

"More than you know," James muttered, glaring at the orb in question before letting it roll out of his hand and fall to the floor where it smashed against the cold stone underfoot, the wisps of smoke inside evaporating instantly, leaving the glass shards laying there, silent and empty.

"There are people that would have paid vaults of Galleons to learn what was said in that Prophecy." The Unspeakable said, cocking their head to the side as they studied James Potter as if he was something they couldn't understand. "Others would have paid just as much to have a Prophecy made in their names."

"Those idiots don't know what it's like to have everyone try and manipulate you to make The Prophecy all about them." James bit out, stepping forwards and crunching the remainder of the Prophecy Orb under his heavy boots, making sure there was absolutely none of it left.

"No, I suppose they don't." The Unspeakable nodded at that, watching as James idly picked up the brass plaque with The Prophecy's information on it and slid it into his pocket.

"There's nothing else to say." James shrugged, turning around and walking away from The Prophecy, his mission complete as far as he was concerned.

"No, I don't think there is." The Unspeakable agreed, falling in step and following James out of The Hall of Prophecy, both walking silently and contemplating his actions as they walked out of the Hall together.


	18. Chapter 18

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Potter Manor**

**Honley**

"James?"

"Kitchen," James called back, recognising Amelia's voice easily enough.

He'd floo'ed Minerva from The Ministry after destroying the Prophecy Orb, letting her know what had happened at Diagon Alley and she'd told him she'd already cancelled his Defence lessons for the rest of the day, leaving him time to head back to Potter Manor and unwind for a bit after everything that had happened.

"Hey," He grinned up, seeing Amelia walk in, already peeling off her purple over-robe to hang it up on the coat hanger outside of the kitchen door. "How'd it go?" He asked curiously.

"Confessions from Crabbe, Runcorn and Macnair. They're spending the night in the holding cells being patched up, I've got enough on them to have them in Azkaban for the rest of their lives." Amelia admitted as she walked into the kitchen, closely followed by Julia Greengrass.

"Julia, sorry, I completely forgot about tonight." James explained, standing up from the kitchen table where he'd been happily relaxing with a mug of coffee and one of the Transfiguration books from the library upstairs.

"I figured," Amelia chuckled at him, stepping over to pull him into a quick kiss. "Nice work today though, couldn't really say it at the offices, but I know everyone wanted to cheer for you after they found out what you'd done."

"Certainly made me feel better," James grinned down, standing back up after stealing another kiss. "Sorry, um... welcome to Potter Manor I guess?" He said, looking over to Julia and giving her a lop sided smile.

"My, how formal of you," Julia chuckled at him, shaking her head in amusement at his actions.

"I did warn you," Amelia smirked back. "James doesn't bother with any of the high brow formalities."

"I really don't," James confirmed quickly with a nod. "I should have remembered when Sirius wasn't here, the Manor hasn't been this quiet for weeks now." He explained with a laugh.

"Tippy?" Amelia asked aloud, waiting for a second before her house elf appeared in the kitchen.

"Miss calls for Tippy?" The elf in question asked, looking up at her Mistress then around the unfamiliar kitchen.

"Three for dinner tonight, we'll be eating here, so make use of any of the facilities you need." Amelia ordered, smiling down to the small elf. "There's no house elf here, so feel free to make yourself at home and do as you will."

"Yes Miss," Tippy nodded quickly, her elf ears flapping wildly before she vanished again with a pop.

"That's done, now there's no hiding away in the kitchen for you." Amelia explained, giving James a knowing look that said she'd caught on to his plan before he'd even properly concocted it.

"Right," James sighed, following as Amelia pulled him out of the kitchen and through to the living room where she pushed him down onto the couch so she could sit alongside him with Julia taking the seat next to her. "You know I don't know anything about all of this stuff right? Aside from what you and Sirius told me?" He explained, looking at Amelia and giving her a pained expression.

"I know," Amelia nodded at him before looking past him to where Julia was looking at him with a confused expression. "You will understand later, I promise you that, but for now..." She trailed off, turning back to James. "You understand what we're discussing here?"

"Getting married." James said simply.

"A betrothal at first," Amelia confirmed with a nod. "Both myself and Julia would enter a betrothal contract with you, set for a marriage that would join our three families."

"I would happily take the Potter name," Julia confirmed with a nod. "I would have to talk to Daphne and Astoria, but in the end it would be up to them if they wanted to keep the Greengrass name, or change their name as well." She explained before thinking for a second. "I can actually imagine both of them would be happy to take your name as well now that I think about it. It would offer them an extra layer of protection at school and allow them to come to you when they needed it."

"I'm still having trouble with the three way marriage thing," James admitted, ruffling his hair as he tried to get that part straight in his head. "I know Sirius said it wasn't unusual, but..." He trailed off with a sigh. "Fine, if this is what you want, then..." He shrugged, looking to Amelia.

"It's a good option," Amelia explained, looking to James now to reassure him. "I've told you that I couldn't marry you and take your name, either it would lead to the Bones line being left to Susan to continue on, or the Potter name being left to Harry." She explained. "And yes, I know you don't really care about these sorts of things, but if you're going to make the changes to our world you want, you're going to need the Wizengamot's support."

"Bigoted arseholes," James muttered, rubbing his stubbled jaw and making a mental note to shave when he got the chance.

"True, but unless you're going to duel them all, we're stuck with them." Amelia chuckled before catching the look James was giving her. "No, you will not be duelling your way through the Wizengamot!" She said firmly, swiping at his arm to ensure he got the message.

"Might actually be easier," Julia smirked over, watching the interaction with interest.

"See, Julia agrees with me." James grinned over.

"Children," Amelia muttered in response, shaking her head in amusement. "Back to our discussion, and do leave James' duelling tendencies alone please, you'd think vanquishing the greatest werewolf threat this country had ever had would have sufficed him for at least a short while."

"Werewolf?" Julia asked, raising an eyebrow at that. "Something you two haven't shared yet?" She smirked over.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard, Greyback led a team of Death Eaters into Diagon Alley," Amelia explained with a sigh. "We were there, but..." She trailed off, rolling her eyes. "James objected, rather strenuously, to Greyback's attack."

"Objected how?" Julia asked, quirking her lips in amusement.

"Some sort of blasting curse to the back of the head," Amelia explained. "I had Auror trainees cleaning up the blood splatter and skull fragments for several hours this afternoon."

"You do know what a stupefy is, don't you?" Julia asked, the laughter visible in her eyes as she turned her attention to James properly now.

"A waste of casting time? It's a weak spell anyway, easy to shield unless you're particularly strong at it, it not worth the time if you don't really have to use it." James answered with a grin. "I'll stun if I need to, or if I want to interrogate them later, Greyback? Death Eaters? I'm not holding back. They won't be casting stunners, neither will I."

"Well, it's about time the light side had someone sensible defending it." Julia nodded, visibly happy with what she was hearing. "Too many Death Eaters got away last time because of Albus' forgiveness and emphasis on disarming and stunning attackers. It's good to see things won't be the same this time around."

"Oh they definitely won't be," James confirmed firmly.

"We were talking about a possible betrothal, not sharing tips on how to kill your way through the Death Eaters in our society." Amelia prompted, nudging James in the ribs with her elbow to bring him back on topic. "Now, just so we're all on the same page, is this something all three of us could see working?" She asked, turning to James first and then back to Julia.

"I guess," James hesitated, looking at Julia curiously. It wasn't as if she wasn't attractive, she was just attractive in a way that he'd never really paid attention to before. Daphne certainly took after her mother, with her tall, pale and elegant features, her soft blue eyes and practically ice blonde hair.

"Certainly," Julia admitted with a nod.

"Right then," Amelia smiled, looking from side to side to glance at each of them before returning her gaze to James. "Perhaps Julia should be told the full story before we progress any further?" She asked, leaving the opening to him.

"Probably," James sighed, ruffling his hair. "Alright, but..." He sighed, frowning as he tried to get his thoughts in order. "I guess the best place to start would be an introduction right?" He asked, leaning across Amelia to hold out his hand towards Julia. "Harry James Potter." He said with a wry grin, watching the confusion and then shock register on Julia's face. "Nice to meet you."

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

That evening at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, various students in three of the four houses were unsettled, all for different reasons.

In Slytherin House, sat in the dark of his private room, Draco Malfoy read through the letter he'd received from his father for perhaps the tenth or eleventh time since receiving it this morning, and had just as much trouble understanding it this time through as he had every other time he'd read it.

On first glance, his father's orders were very clear and concise. Keep his head down, don't refer to mudbloods as such outside of the Slytherin dorm, and do not antagonise Potter junior or senior, or their associates, in any way.

In short, the letter, signed by his father at the bottom, went against everything he knew and had been taught before coming to Hogwarts. He'd always been taught about the superiority of pure blood wizards over everyone else, and that at Hogwarts, he would be respected instantly for his family's name, wealth and power.

On the surface, not antagonising at least Professor Potter, was a good idea, and likewise, by association, Harry Potter. Even he couldn't deny that Professor Potter must be extraordinarily powerful to duel both Dumbledore and The Dark Lord, and walk away from both. Antagonising any wizard with that sort of power was just stupid, and that was something Malfoys certainly weren't.

But restricting him to acting civilly towards mudbloods and blood traitors? That didn't sound like father at all, and he couldn't understand why his father was ordering him to act this way.

Frowning to himself again he set down on his bed and unfolded the letter to read it yet again, there had to be something he was missing, some nuance or hidden meaning that he had yet to decode, it must be a test from his father to see where his loyalties really lay, he was certain of it.

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor Common Room, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger sat on their own at the side of the bustling room, happily studying together and giving each other silent and reassuring glances every so often.

The common room was as loud as it always was, with Ron and Seamus arguing over a chess board on the far side of the room, while the Weasley Twins continued to discuss various pranks over a game of exploding snap with the trio of the Flying Foxes.

"I'm sure he's alright Neville, really." Hermione whispered quietly, making sure that nobody else overheard her. "He's James Potter right? He fought both Professor Dumbledore and... You-Know-Who, it's not like anything in Diagon Alley could be worse than that?"

"I know," Neville nodded, giving her a pained smile in thanks for her trying to help him. "It's just... he's... he's been in hiding for so long, I've not even got a chance to know him properly yet."

"You'll get that chance," Hermione said with a knowing nod. "And Harry seemed friendly enough as well right?"

"Yeah, I... I guess." Neville nodded slowly.

"Professor Potter will be fine, I'm sure he's back already and we'll see him tomorrow, you can talk to him then right?" Hermione prompted him. "You said he told you you could come to him any time you wanted to talk right?"

"I... but I don't want to bother him." Neville explained with a grimace.

"I'm sure you're not bothering him," Hermione shook her head quickly. "You're so lucky, I wish the Professors would let me go and talk to them whenever I wanted to. I've got tons of questions I've been dying to ask."

"I bet," Neville laughed, knowing full well how Hermione always seemed full of questions. "Hey, you could come with me tomorrow, I bet Professor Potter would love to meet you as well." He said quickly, remembering how Professor Potter had been the one that had asked him to make friends with Hermione in the first place.

"I... I could?" Hermione whispered, looking at Neville like he was offering her a giant chocolate bar or the next line up of the Quidditch World Cup.

"Of course," Neville smiled over. "We can go together." He nodded, ensuring that Hermione joined him would also help bolster his courage in approaching his godfather as well.

"I'd... I'd like that." Hermione nodded with a smile, thankful for the offer.

Ever since Neville had extended his hand of friendship, she'd found the quiet boy to be quite a pleasant study partner. He wasn't as academically inclined as she was, but he was quiet and focused on his studies without bothering her, which was definitely better than most of the other options she'd found in Gryffindor House so far.

Down in the Hufflepuff Den, young Harry Potter and Susan Bones were sat on one of the leather couches, both talking in hushed whispers so they didn't disturb any of the older Hufflepuffs that were studying around them.

Both of them needed reassurance from each other, as they both knew equally well that if there was a problem in Diagon Alley, then Susan's mother would be in the thick of it just as much as Harry's older self would be.

Lapsing into silence they simply sat with each other sharing a charms book to read from, neither of them really studying, but neither of them wanting to say anything else either.

Everything that needed to be said had already been voiced, and while they had each other as a semblance of family, it didn't help the worries that knotted their stomaches as they thought of all the rumours about Death Eaters and werewolves that had been flooding Hogwarts this afternoon.

All they could do now was wait, and hopefully in the morning they would find out both their parents had survived whatever had happened today.

* * *

**Godrics Hollow **

**North of Cornwall **

**Devon **

While various children worried for their parental figures, in Godric's Hollow, Albus Dumbledore had worries of his own, as he stared at the parchment Kingsley Shacklebolt had given him with a expression of undisguised horror on his face.

"James Potter wrote this?" Albus asked, his voice catching in his throat as he tried to think of the ramifications of what he was being told.

"The message was, if he sees you, or anyone associated with you anywhere near him or his son, he'll take that to The Prophet." Kingsley confirmed with a stoic nod.

Albus glanced back at the parchment, idly wishing that the horrific words inscribed there would change or alter somehow.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches..." He read aloud before catching himself and falling quiet. The fact a decade on James remembered the entire Prophecy, word for word, was far more surprising than it should have been.

As far as he knew, he'd only told James The Prophecy once, back when he'd used it to convince James and Lily to go into hiding, but here it was, written perfectly as if he'd written it himself. That obviously meant James had access to a pensieve or some other memory retrieval magics that had aided him in remembering the exact words of The Prophecy, which was certainly worrying, as for the last decade he'd made certain that nobody else knew the entire Prophecy, not even Severus, but now there was no telling who else James Potter could have shared it with.

Either that, or the far more likely explanation was that James and Harry had already retrieved The Prophecy Orb from the Department of Mysteries at some point, and therefore had access for it to recite The Prophecy whenever they wanted.

It was a smart move, one that he would have made himself once he'd had Harry's confidence, and meant that The Prophecy Orb would now be secured away, and entirely likely hidden under the same Fidelius that kept James, Harry and Sirius hidden away from his searches.

Even more worrying was James' interpretation of The Prophecy that pointed to Albus as the Dark Lord to be vanquished. It was more than worrying, it was absolutely horrific to see how James interpreted things, but even worse, he could easily see how others would come to the same conclusion if James publicised his version of The Prophecy and vouched for it in The Prophet.

With his own waining star and James Potter's influence skyrocketing, it didn't take a genius to see who would be believed, and following that reveal, he would be denounced by The Ministry as a Dark Lord before the end of the day, followed very shortly by his picture being plastered on posters around the country and naming him as The Ministry's Undesirable Number One.

"He was very firm about things. He made sure I got the message that he doesn't forgive and he doesn't forget." Kingsley explained, watching Albus' reactions closely. "He holds you responsible for a lot of things that have happened."

Albus grimaced at that, he had to admit though, he was responsible for a lot of the things that had befallen James, and his mentality of 'I don't forgive and I don't forget' was certainly what he remembered of the young man who could keep a grudge even longer than Severus could, and be downright vicious when provoked.

"I see," Albus said with a small nod, laying down the horrifying piece of parchment on his desk for now. "And your progress in the department?"

"At a standstill," Kingsley explained bluntly. "With today's attack, Director Bones is using it to push for faster reforms in The Ministry. Even The Minister is on board after it became public knowledge that the two Death Eaters they'd taken down were working at The Ministry. We all reckon the magical contracts will be brought in early next week, maybe even by the weekend."

"Do you know anything about the contracts so far?" Albus asked hopefully.

"No," Kingsley shook his head. "They're keeping it quiet, probably to stop people trying to find their way around them. All I've heard is that they will prevent anyone working from The Ministry from working against them, or subverting their jobs by taking orders from anyone else."

"I see," Albus sighed, sinking down in his seat as he let the ramifications of that filter through to his brain. On the surface, it was a rather good idea, one he could easily see James' hand in. It would prevent any Aurors from working for or supporting Voldemort in his rise to power, and secure The Ministry quite effectively from having any inside infiltration. On the other hand, it meant that if Voldemort did manage to infiltrate The Ministry at a high enough level, or used influence like Lucius Malfoy to control The Minister, then he would have the entire Ministry loyal to his command without them even knowing they were under his control, and they would be unable to fight him without leaving The Ministry's employment.

Another thought was that, depending on the specific nature of these contracts, he would very likely lose any influence over Kingsley at all once he signed the contract, as Kingsley would be unable to work for him, or assist him while working for The Ministry.

Given how Kingsley had reported James' antagonistic attitude today and confirmed that James already knew that Kingsley was reporting to him, he could easily accept that James had planned this outcome already and had factored it into his plans, taking away even more of his support and influence in a stroke that targeted him just as much as it targeted Voldemort.

It was a rather sobering thought to realise that from James' perspective, he could easily see how he would come to the conclusion that he and Voldemort were the same. They had both been dispatched from Hogwarts by James rather easily, they both used their own methods to gather influence and information from within The Ministry through infiltrating it with people loyal to them, and they had both, to their own detriment, made plans to make young Harry Potter's life far shorter than he deserved.

As he looked across at the parchment James had written and took somber notice of how James had interpreted The Prophecy, he had to admit that looking at his actions now, he couldn't fault James for anything he had done or how he was looking at things now.

"Thank you Kingsley," Albus nodded with a small sigh, using his thumb and index finger to massage his temples as he tried to think where all his planning had gone wrong.

He'd arranged things so perfectly, taking young Harry when he was only a baby and committing to have him raised by those awful relatives of Lily's. Sirius being thrown into Azkaban had been an unexpected bonus at the time, he'd truly believed Sirius had been guilty which was why he'd never investigated the situation more thoroughly, a fact that was now working against him as now both James and Sirius were lined against him.

As Kingsley left, Albus slumped down in his chair and tried to picture where he could go from here. He had to regain control of Harry Potter somehow, but there was no way he could see to do it.

Infiltrating Hogwarts would have been the easiest option, but now he'd heard confirmation that James had taken the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, he knew that James would be keeping Harry under close watch.

He simply had to wait and bide his time, at least for a year. The Defence Against the Dark Arts position was cursed by Voldemort himself, so he would just have to wait and see how the curse affected James towards the end of the year. After that, he would be able to swoop in and take control of things.

Yes, patience and planning were his best options. He couldn't rush anything, he needed to examine every step and plan for every contingency, he just had to be patient, and soon, everything he'd worked for would be his again.

* * *

**Potter Manor**

**Honley**

Sitting in his living room after finally taking the time to rearrange things to how he preferred the room to be laid out, James took a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet as he gathered his thoughts and tried to plan out his next move.

The evening had gone, well, about as well as he could have expected it to go really after his revaluation to Julia.

They'd all talked, for quite a while honestly, and then Amelia had floo'ed back to the Greengrass house with her to talk things through witch to witch, leaving him alone at The Manor to do whatever he wanted.

Honestly, he'd actually thought speaking with Julia had gone reasonably well. Amelia and Julia seemed to have quite a long friendship and past together, even though Julia was quite a few years older than she was.

One thing Amelia had pointed out, was that if they did go ahead with the betrothal, then Harry would legally have both Amelia and Julia looking out for his interests if the worst did happen. They were both happy to keep Sirius around and in touch with him, but it would add a layer of security to Harry's life that wouldn't be there otherwise.

He had to admit, that was a rather reassuring notion to contemplate. Not that he assumed anything bad was going to happen to himself, or that Sirius would do anything stupid, again, but having that extra reassurance that there was someone with the legal power to take his younger self in and help him through everything, instead of returning him to the Dursleys like Dumbledore would no doubt push for, was definitely worth having a plan for.

Both Amelia and Julia had also raised the point that having a witches figure in Harry's life, two in this case, might be exactly what he needed as well. Going from his own past, and the distinct lack of both a father or mothering figure in his life growing up, he couldn't deny that point either.

The fact was, both witches had given him a lot to think about tonight. All of their points had been well thought out and brought up things he hadn't considered before.

He was effectively in a very high risk situation here, with both Voldemort and Dumbledore gunning for him, not to mention however many Death Eaters in the process, and however many members of The Aurors and Wizengamot that he was going to piss off as well.

So having someone, two someone's there, to legally take custody of Harry if something should happen to him, in a way that Dumbledore couldn't interfere with, would definitely be a weight off his mind.

If he was honest with himself, he'd never actually pictured himself getting married before. Certainly not in a pure blood custom like this three way marriage would be. It had been a passing thought before, a daydream about what things between him and Hermione could have been if he'd actually pulled his head out of his arse in Hogwarts and realised how much Hermione had meant to him, instead of chasing after popular girls like Cho and Ginny.

Maybe having a mothering figure in Amelia and Julia would help his younger self figure out witches in a way he'd never been able to, so that he didn't make the same stupid mistakes that he had made with his life.

That's what this was all about anyway, putting everything right so that his younger self, along with all the decent people in the magical world, didn't have to put up with the pure blood bigotry, incessant dark lords, ignorance and stupidity any longer.

Sitting back on his leather couch he took stock around the room, thinking that if they did go ahead with this betrothal contract thing, then he would have to rework several areas of the manor to make room for the Bones and Greengrass ladies if they all wanted to live together as one family.

This entire thing had come entirely out of the blue, leaving him floundering a bit and trying to figure out if it was a good idea or not.

Amelia was certainly a bright point in his life right now, which was something he'd given up looking for in his own time. She didn't want to be with him because of his money or his fame or because he was The-Boy-Who-Lived, or any of that crap. She loved him for who he was, and he loved her because of it.

That realisation caused him to sit up in the couch suddenly and rewind his mind slightly. He loved Amelia.

That was the first time that little sentence had ever rattled through his mind and it startled him a bit more than he'd like to admit. Love was a foreign thing, a nebulous and abstract concept that he'd never really been able to define before.

He loved Amelia.

Could he feel something without actually understanding it? Apparently it seemed like it, because the more he thought about it, the more sure he was about it.

He wanted Amelia in his life, to stand with him and be part of his crazy and messed up family. Being honest with himself, he wasn't even sure if he'd have even got this far in his plans to deal with Voldemort without her. She was important to him, and he valued that more than anything else.

"Wow," He breathed out, letting that realisation wash over him as he lent back in the couch again and contemplated that in the silence of the manor.

Love, he'd found love at last.


	19. Chapter 19

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**6th September**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

**Great Hall **

It was barely moments after breakfast had finished that Harry, Susan, Daphne, Neville and Hermione rushed up to the teachers platform at the front of the hall, Harry ignoring all sense of propriety as he ran forward and hugged his older self in a way that had Minerva, Filius and Andromeda all chuckling as they watched the display.

"Hey mini-mi," James grinned down.

"I was worried," Harry admitted, not wanting to let go of the hug at all. "You were fighting werewolves!" He whispered, looking up at his older self.

"Only one," James confirmed, ruffling his younger self's hair as he moved away from the teachers platform to sit down on the edge of it. "I take it you all heard what happened yesterday?" He asked, looking around the group with a surprised smile when he saw Hermione there as well.

Her bushy hair was just as wild as he remembered it, and her buck toothed nervous smile brought back so many memories of their first three years together at Hogwarts before everything had gone to hell.

"Everyone did Professor Potter," Daphne explained with a nod. "The stories were all around the school."

"I'm not surprised," James chuckled, ruffling his hair as he looked around the group. "Knowing the Hogwarts rumour mill, there was probably an army of werewolves and a hundred or so Death Eaters?" He asked with a smirk.

"Something like that," Harry grinned over to his older self.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it was one werewolf and three Death Eaters, that's it." James explained, noticing that Minerva, Filius and Andromeda had stuck around to listen in as well. "I'm sure some of you have heard of Fenrir Greyback?" He asked, looking around at everyone, noticing that aside from his younger self and Hermione, everyone in the group paled, including Minerva who was looking at him with a worried expression now.

"A truly sadistic werewolf, one of the worst of his kind ever recorded." Minerva explained when Harry looked up at her.

"He's not a problem any more." James said bluntly, looking up at Minerva to reassure her.

"He's... the Aurors have him in custody at last?" Minerva asked in shock.

"Not quite," James shook his head. "It was a bit more... final than that." He explained, not wanting to go into details about how close it had been with Susan here.

"I... I see," Minerva nodded at that.

"But I'm fine, Amelia's fine, Greyback was the only casualty. The three Death Eaters were arrested by the Aurors, interrogated and charged. They'll be in Azkaban by now enjoying all the comforts of the prison life." James explained with a chuckle, giving Susan a reassuring smile when he saw her breath a sigh of relief at the news.

"I'm certain Remus will be heartened by the news," Minerva explained with a soft smile at the thought, startling James as he hadn't considered that yet, and certainly hadn't known that Minerva had known about Remus' furry little problem.

"Probably," James admitted with a nod. "You lot should get to class, come by my office at lunch time, I'll floo Amelia and have her come through so you can hear that she's alright from her as well." He explained, looking at Susan who smiled gratefully at him for the offer.

"Thanks Professor," Susan said with a wide smile, wiping her eyes to swipe away the tears of relief that had fallen when she'd heard her aunt Amelia was alright.

"Anytime Susan," James replied with a soft smile. "We're going to have to have a time to get everyone together soon though, with Daphne too." He explained, drawing puzzled expressions from his younger self, Susan and Daphne together. "We'll try and set something up this weekend alright?" He asked, waiting for the three of them to nod in response.

"Very well," Minerva nodded, clapping her hands twice to grab the students attention. "To class with you, you don't want to be late." She informed the group, causing Harry to give his older self another quick hug before Susan dashed in and hugged him as well, surprising everyone in the group before the five of them broke away to head to their morning classes.

"Thanks for indulging that," James said, nodding over to Minerva as he stood up from the platform and dusted off the back of his coat from where he'd been sitting.

"Not at all," Minerva waved away the comment with a reassuring smile. "You were telling the truth about Greyback?"

"Entirely," James nodded, noticing Filius and Andromeda looking at him with awed glances now. "Blasting curse to the side of the head," He explained, checking to make sure Susan and the rest had left the Great Hall before he continued on. "He had Amelia in his claws when I got there, it was the first curse that came to mind."

"I see," Minerva pursed her lips but nodded in agreement with his choice. "A single fatal cast I can assume?"

"Definitely," James admitted. "Amelia was cleaning pieces of his brain out of her hair while we arrested the Death Eaters. Two Ministry infiltrators with the Dark Mark, Runcorn and Macnair. Angus Crabbe was there as well, they all got taken down, hard."

"I shall have to inform Mr Crabbe, I'm not entirely certain if his mother is still in the picture." Minerva explained hesitantly.

"He'll be in Azkaban now, Amelia had him display the Dark Mark openly for everyone to see before she interrogated him with Veritaserum just like the other two." James explained with a shrug. "I doubt it went well for him."

"I have to agree there," Minerva admitted with a sigh. "Very well, I shall speak to Mr Crabbe and enquire about his home situation before informing him of yesterdays events." She explained with a pained look. "Am I to assume your rather hostile policy of fatal casting is going to be your way forward then?"

"A hundred percent," James admitted without a care about how it sounded. "I've seen murders and rapists go free, just because they lied or bought they way out of it. I've had that hanging on my conscience before, I won't have it again." He explained bluntly. "If they've got the Dark Mark, they're following Voldemort's orders, they don't get any second chances from me." He explained with a shrug. "I'll be more generous with Dumbledore's stooges unless they try and take Harry, then all bets are off." He explained firmly. "I don't give second chances, not any more." He said, before walking off to make sure he got to the defence classroom in time for his morning lesson.

"I'm entirely sure he means it as well." Filius admitted in a hushed voice as he came to stand next to Minerva with Andromeda.

"I am almost certain he does." Minerva admitted with a frown. "Quite a change from Albus' policy of constant forgiveness no matter the crime."

"It's a good thing as far as I'm concerned," Andromeda said thoughtfully. "We all know how many Death Eaters got away with everything after the last war. Murders and rapists going free on the 'but he made me do it' defence that was always a pack of lies, and everyone knew it."

"I can't deny that," Minerva sighed with a pained expression on her face. "It just... it seems a rather dark path to take, no matter the instigation."

"After what James has been through?" Filius prompted her as he stroked his beard in thought. "Losing his wife to Voldemort, Albus kidnapping Harry? I admit, I don't know the full story, but it seems to me if anyone has cause for turning to this path, it would be James."

"Well, I certainly agree with his methods," Andromeda said with a look of approval. "For far too long the dark have got away with a slap on the wrist for everything they've done. Now that they realise that there are those of us that won't back down and will fight for what we believe in, maybe they will have cause to reassess their actions."

"Indeed, the dark factions have too long acted without consequence, I'm quite satisfied to see someone stand up in defence of others." Filius agreed with a small smile. "Hopefully now the younger generation will see this and be turned away from taking that path."

"We can hope," Andromeda nodded in agreement, happy that Filius was on her side for this as well.

"I only hope this does not escalate things further," Minerva admitted with a sigh. "Very well, I shall leave you while I contact Mr Crabbe's mother, if I can." She said, walking away while deep in thought about how James was happy using fatal casting in defence of others.

"I believe it is just an adjustment, Albus was well known for his lax attitude to punishments, offering forgiveness without consequence for even the most vile offences." Filius explained when Andromeda turned to look at him in question.

"I remember him being very casual about things, but I can't honestly say I was ever in a situation where I needed or witnessed his attitude personally." Andromeda admitted thoughtfully. "That said, I was a Slytherin, and I seemed to view us all with disdain regardless of our actual actions."

"Indeed," Filius nodded with a sigh. "I've come to review Albus attitude and actions myself after the last few days, and have to admit that there are more than a few questionable things he did that I failed to take note of at the time." He explained. "I perhaps think that many of us were blinded by his past achievements and simply failed to notice the things he did that were not as light as he would have liked to appear."

"Perhaps," Andromeda admitted grudgingly. "As I said, he always looked on Slytherin with disdain, no matter what we did, it was always something that it seemed we had to apologise for to him. I remember Nymphadora writing to me when she was sorted, how Albus seemed overtly surprised by her sorting."

"I wouldn't surprise me in the least," Filius nodded thoughtfully. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to take care of this morning myself."

"Yes, of course." Andromeda smiled, watching Filius leave the Great Hall before she made her way down to the potions dungeons herself to prepare for the day.

* * *

**Defence Against the Dark Arts Office **

**Second Floor**

**Hogwarts **

"Yeah, come on through." James said in acknowledgement, standing up from where he'd been reading through the curriculum textbook for the first time to actually figure out exactly what the first years were supposed to be learning, instead of going from his own experience and memories.

Tossing the text book by the side he grinned as the fireplace lit up green before Amelia stepped through, then flared against after a moment's pause for Julia to follow her through the fireplace.

"Hey," James smiled, leaning in to steal a quick kiss from Amelia. "Julia." He nodded over with a smile.

"Ja... you do still prefer James then?" Julia asked with a wry smile on her face.

"It'll keep things easier," James admitted, ruffling his hair a bit. "I know it's weird, but..."

"No, I understand." Julia nodded in agreement. "Rather cunning actually, not something I would have expected from a Gryffindor. Or was that Hufflepuff?"

"Gryffindor," James confirmed. "It was actually a surprise to me when the younger me got sent into Hufflepuff." He admitted. "Though the hat did want to put me in Slytherin, so there's that."

"I can only imagine the chaos that would have wrought." Julia exclaimed with a chuckle.

"Me and Malfoy in the same dorm?" James snorted, shaking his head. "I don't think I'd have survived first year, probably not even the first week." He admitted with a self-deprecating grin.

"Is everything alright?" Amelia asked, noticing James' hesitant mood already.

"Sort of," James sighed, gesturing for them to take a seat on one of the three couches or chairs he'd prepared in the living quarters of the office where they could talk before his mini-me and the other kids came up. "I think I screwed up yesterday, a bit anyway." He admitted as he sat down on the couch where he'd been while Amelia and Julia took a seat together on a couch opposite.

"Oh?" Amelia frowned, running over everything that had happened yesterday in her mind and wondering what mistake James was thinking he'd made.

"The rumour mill at Hogwarts already had all the details of what happened at Diagon Alley," James explained, rubbing his face in annoyance. "When I got to the hall this morning, you should have seen Susan and Harry's faces." He explained. "Neville as well now I think about it." He added on.

"Ah," Amelia grimaced. "I assume Harry, and Susan for that matter, had heard the worst had happened, or imagined as such?"

"Probably," James nodded. "Harry was hugging the stuffing out of me before I managed to explain what had happened, by the time I got to telling everyone we were both OK, Susan was actually crying with relief."

"We should have expected this," Amelia frowned thoughtfully. "Harry certainly, and Susan to an extent already, both see you as a father figure. I'm aware that this isn't something you had growing up, so it's... it's not something you would have been aware of." She admitted. "Both Harry and Susan have lost so much already, I dare say that the worry of losing you already was quite forefront in their minds when they heard about yesterday's attack."

"Ah," James grimaced, rubbing his face with his hands as he contemplated that. "Crap." He muttered.

"Indeed," Amelia chuckled with a wry smile at him. "Given that in your life, you haven't had anyone to worry about you before, not like this, it will be an adjustment you'll all have to make."

"It sort of cements something I was thinking about last night as well though," James admitted cautiously, looking between Amelia and Julia. "When you two said that if something does happen to me, you'll be willing to take in Harry? I'd obviously be more than willing to return the favour, with Susan, Daphne and Astoria." He explained, drawing smiles from Amelia and Julia in response.

"You're certain?" Amelia asked, her tone stating that she wasn't just asking about the kids now and his offer, but about the entire thing as one package.

"More than I've been about anything else," James nodded with a grin. "That is... I mean... if you two both still want to... you know..." He frowned, trying to gather his thoughts together.

"I did warn you he doesn't quite have the eloquence you're used to," Amelia chuckled, looking over at Julia who was smirking at James in response.

"Hah hah," James muttered dryly. "You know what I mean." He said with a grin. "Yes, I'm certain. For a dozen reasons or more, but giving Harry, Susan, Daphne and Astoria some extra security and safety means a hell of a lot."

"I'm certain Susan would love to call Harry her older brother, officially of course." Amelia smiled widely at the thought.

"I will speak to Daphne and Astoria of course, but provisionally with their acceptance, I can see..." Julia cut off as a loud knocking noise came from the office area next door.

"Ah, sorry, they're early." James muttered, standing up from his couch and heading into the office area, leaving Amelia and Julia to stand up from the couch and look at each other with questioning looks.

It didn't take long for them to hear a few voices joining James as well, before Harry led the way through into the living area of the office cautiously, stopping by the door when he saw Amelia and Julia by the couches, followed by Susan, Daphne and two other students in Gryffindor robes.

"Go on, get in there." James chuckled, bringing up the rear as he shuffled the five students through into the living area.

"Auntie!" Susan was first to dive out of the group, dashing forwards to hug Amelia for all she was worth.

"Mother," Daphne smiled and gave a respectful nod over to her mother, though her expression showed how happy she was to see her mother again, even after barely a week of being at school and away from home.

"Go on, grab a chair. Sit wherever you want you lot." James explained, pushing everyone further into the room when Daphne moved to sit with her mother, and Susan stayed glued to Amelia. "Amelia, Julia, this is Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger, Gryffindors obviously." He explained with a smile, indicating the two Gryffindors.

"Ah, your godson." Amelia smiled over, not having met Neville before. "Relax, we don't bite." She chuckled when both Neville and Hermione offered nervous smiles at the group.

"Madame Bones," Neville gave a small smile to Amelia. "Madame Greengrass." He followed with a similar smile to Julia.

"Granger, of the Dagworth-Granger potioneers perhaps?" Julia asked, raising her eyebrow in question.

"I... I don't think so?" Hermione asked, a bit unsure of herself at the question.

"Relax everyone, seriously." James chuckled, grabbing his seat back and settling on the couch before his younger self jumped up and sat next to him with a grin.

"This place is amazing, is this what the Gryffindor dorms are like?" Harry smiled widely, looking around at the dark furniture with red and gold accents and decorations.

"Pretty similar," James confirmed with a nod, watching as everyone took a seat, with Neville and Hermione nervously taking two chairs that were away from the couches. "I thought Susan could do with seeing you, especially after this morning." He explained with a chuckle when he saw Amelia's questioning look.

"I was so worried," Susan explained, happily sitting next to Amelia, in the middle next to Daphne while Julia was at the far end of the couch.

"I'm fine honey, really." Amelia said quickly, reassuring the girl that was all but a daughter to her. "James took care of things rather quickly, he actually put my Aurors to shame, something I am quite loathed to admit." She explained with a dry laugh.

"I wish there was some way we could be in touch easier," Harry frowned. "It's not like they have any phones around here, but owls take ages to get anywhere, and we only get them every morning." He explained, noticing how Hermione was nodding in agreement with his complaint about phones.

"Actually..." James grinned, remembering the communication mirrors Sirius had giving him back in Hogwarts. "I might have an idea there, I'll have to talk to Sirius when I get chance." He said, wondering how easily they'd be able to make communication mirrors for the entire group so they could talk with each other when they needed to.

"I'm just happy you're OK." Susan said, smiling over to James happily.

"Honestly, I'm fine, really. None of them even got close with a curse." James confirmed.

"As much as it pains me to confirm his ego, that is the truth." Amelia admitted with a hard done by sigh, drawing laughs from the children around the room.

"Hey, I'm not that bad." James complained with a mock frown.

"Yes dear," Amelia smiled, drawing a laugh from Julia and the kids, even Harry, at her dry response.

"Anyway," James drawled, moving the discussion on. "How are you five settling in? I haven't really had time to make it down to the Hufflepuff common room or to any of the others yet, so I figured I'd ask while I've got you all here?"

"Great!" Harry grinned up eagerly. "Everyone in Hufflepuff is super friendly, it's a really relaxing place. The common room is just perfect, it's quiet and peaceful, I can just relax there and read without anyone bugging me!"

"Really?" Hermione demanded, the jealousy plain on her face. "Sorry." She whispered quickly when she realised she'd drawn everyone's attention.

"I know what you mean," Neville said quickly, trying to draw the attention off of Hermione. "The Gryffindor common room isn't exactly a quiet place, trying to read there or get anything done is a nightmare." He explained.

"I remember," James commented, rubbing his forehead as the memories of how loud the Gryffindor common room was came back to him.

"Can't they come and study with us?" Susan asked, looking over at James.

"Um, actually, I don't know?" James said with a frown. "I'll ask Pomona, see what she says. Honestly I can't see why not, I don't actually think there's a rule against being invited into another common room, at least, not that I know of." He mused, idly smiling that now he'd actually visited all four of the common rooms and was probably one of the very rare people that had done so.

"I can't think of one either," Amelia frowned thoughtfully, looking over to Julia who shook her head as well.

"I'll ask this afternoon," James promised, looking over to Hermione with a firm nod. He could do that much for her at least to start with, especially after all the time she'd stuck with him over the years.

"And Slytherin?" Julia asked, looking at Daphne with a curious glance.

"As expected," Daphne nodded thoughtfully. "Several groups, each vying for popularity in the house, I've remained neutral for now however and plan to remain so."

"Neutral?" Harry asked, not really understanding what Daphne was talking about.

"Slytherin house is a lot more... political and formal than Gryffindor or Hufflepuff seem to be. There is a greater emphasis on traditions and propriety than I can imagine the other houses have." Julia explained patiently. "Where Gryffindor places more emphasis on popularity and fame?" She asked, looking to James who nodded in response. "Slytherins gain acclaim in their house through family political connections, wealth and influence."

"Oh," Harry frowned, not really understanding that at all.

"Don't worry about it," James said, shaking his head down to Harry. "Unless you decide to date a Slytherin, you'll never have to bother about what goes on down there."

"Oh, alright." Harry nodded reluctantly, wondering exactly how Slytherins were different now.

"Actually, what... what we're talking about, will affect Daphne a great deal." Julia said thoughtfully. "In both her in-house acclaim, and her perceived reputation."

"Right, yeah, that." James grimaced. "I forgot." He admitted with a sigh. "You want to talk to them both about it now then?" He asked, flicking his eyes between Amelia and Julia.

"It would be better than several owls," Amelia admitted with a nod.

"Alright," James shrugged, standing up from the couch. "If you three come with me, we'll leave these four to chat for a minute. You mind throwing up a silencing charm around the doorway?" He asked when Harry, Hermione and Neville stood up to follow up.

"Of course," Amelia nodded at that, waiting for James to lead his group through to the other room before casting a silencing charm around the four of them so they could talk without being overhead.

"Auntie?" Susan asked, looking up at her aunt with a questioning expression.

"There's... something, we need to discuss with you, that will affect both of you." Amelia admitted with a soft smile, looking down at Susan.

* * *

"Dad?" Harry questioned as he followed his older self out into the office area. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing like that." James chuckled, shaking his head. "Me and Amelia, we've just been... talking and planning on what we'd like to do with our lives." He explained, trying to ease his younger self into this slowly.

"This is amazing,"

James turned around at the whisper, seeing Hermione had automatically been drawn to the office bookshelves where she was looking through the titles with an excited smile on her face. "Should have known you'd be drawn back there." He chuckled. "Tell you what, next week we're starting on the knockback jinx, standard book of spells grade two, it's a relatively simple cast, I'm sure the three of you will have no problems mastering it."

"I'm... I don't know if I can..."

"Nonsense Neville, I'm sure with practice you'll be able to do it just as well as any of us." Hermione said quickly, spotting Neville's nervousness coming to the surface. "I mean, um, Professor Potter..."

"She's right," James laughed, waving off Hermione's worried expression. "You're going to be a great wizard Neville, trust me on that." He said with a firm smile over at him. "Actually..." James frowned, remembering all the troubles Neville had in school. "Let me have a look at your wand for a second?"

"My... um... OK Professor?" Neville stammered out, sliding his wand out of his pocket and gingerly offering it for James to take.

Eyeing the wand that had caused Neville so many problems over the years, James rolled his eyes at how a simple little thing like this had been the cause of Neville's confidence issues for so long. "This isn't your wand, is it Neville?" He asked with a sigh, handing the wand back to Neville and forcing down the grimace that came when he realised he'd completely forgotten about Neville's wand problems.

"It's... it's my dad's wand Professor." Neville admitted, causing Hermione to gasp in response.

"Exactly," James nodded, nodding to Hermione. "The wand choses the wizard Neville, not the other way around." He explained with a nod. "Just because that wand was right for your dad, doesn't mean it's right for you." He simplified. "You're as much your mother as your father, just like my parents wands wouldn't work for me."

"Oh... I... I didn't know?" Neville looked up to James and then back down to his wand. "But... my gran said..."

"Let me deal with your gran," James said, waving that thought off. "I'll take you down to Ollivander's when I get a second, I'll probably have to check in with Minerva first, but I'll get it done."

"You can trust my dad Neville, when he says he's going to do something, he does it." Harry grinned over, happy that his older self was going to help Neville like this.

"Why don't you two go and practice the knockback jinx in the common room?" James prompted them. "I'll figure things through with Minerva and come and find you when I get chance." He explained, nodding to Neville. "And you can both come to me if you get stuck on anything alright? Defence, Charms, Transfiguration, probably not Herbology, but that's Neville's best subject anyway." He explained with a laugh.

"Thanks Professor!" Hermione smiled widely at that, accepting the offer for what it was.

"Go on, go practice and let me know how you get on," James laughed, shaking his head at Hermione's enthusiasm as he moved to open the door to let Hermione and Neville out of the office area, letting Harry wave to them before he closed it quietly.

"So, um... it's family stuff then?" Harry asked hesitantly, looking at the doorway where he still couldn't hear any noise coming from the other room where he'd left Susan and Daphne with their parents.

"Pretty much," James sighed, leaning on his desk and sitting there comfortably as he contemplated how to word this. "You know, um, me and Amelia have been... dating I guess?"

"Uhuh," Harry nodded, wrinkling his nose a bit as he thought about it.

"I know you don't know what a betrothal is, hell, I didn't at your age." James explained, ruffling his hair nervously. "Alright, you know what engaged means right?"

"You and Miss Bones are going to get married?" Harry whispered, his eyes going wide at that revelation.

"Yes, well, sort of." James grimaced. "It's a bit more complicated than that because of traditions, family names and all that sort of stuff."

"Alright?" Harry frowned. "Would that... I mean, does that mean Susan is going to be my sister for real?"

"Pretty much," James confirmed with a nod, simplifying it down. "And Daphne." He said bluntly, ripping the bandage off in one go.

"Da... uh... huh?" Harry frowned over, frowning as he tried to figure out how that worked.

"The betrothal... lets call it engagement, I'll be engaged to Amelia, and to Julia." James explained, watching his younger self's reactions carefully to see how he was taking this.

"And... there's an and? You can do that?" Harry asked in shock.

"You can," James nodded. "So I'd be marrying Amelia and Julia."

"Oh... I... oh," Harry whispered, furrowing his brow as that thought nestled in his brain and he tried to think his way through it. "So... they'd be like my new mums?"

"If you wanted to call them that, then... that's something you can talk about with them." James explained with a sigh. "Julia knows, about... about me, us, that whole time travel thing anyway." He explained, ruffling his hair as he got caught up in the pronouns again. "I'm sure our mum is going to hex the life out of me for this someday, but..." He paused with a shrug. "Is that OK?" He asked curiously.

"I'm... I like Susan I guess, she'd be a great sister." Harry admitted slowly. "Daphne... I mean, she's fun but... I haven't really spent time with her like I have Susan. She comes across... she's a bit cold sometimes, and really formal, like all the time."

"That's because she's a Slytherin, outside of school you can help her relax a bit more and get used to how we are. We can arrange some time for you and Susan to spent time with Daphne and her sister." James explained with a nod.

"Sister?" Harry whispered, his eyes going wide again.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." James grimaced over at his younger self. "Astoria, she's two or three years younger than Daphne I think, something like that." He explained. "So you'll be getting three sisters out of it."

"Three..." Harry whispered to himself. "That's a big family." He said with a grin, drawing a snort of laughter out of his older self.

"Don't forget Neville as well," James grinned over. "He's my godson, so... you can think of him as an extra brother." He said with a laugh.

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed, shaking his head at that thought. "And Uncle Sirius! I... I always wanted a family, a real family."

"I know," James nodded. "Me too." He admitted in a soft voice.

"We're getting a family?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"It looks that way," James said with a wide smile at how happy his younger self seemed to be with the decision.

"I'm getting a real family," Harry whispered to himself, unable to stop his smile from practically splitting his face in two.

* * *

**Living room area**

"Auntie?" Susan asked, looking up at her aunt with a questioning expression.

"There's... something, we need to discuss with you, that will affect both of you." Amelia admitted with a soft smile, looking down at Susan.

"That will affect both of you." Julia clarified, making sure Daphne was paying apt attention as well.

"Yes," Amelia nodded, frowning when Julia gestured for her to go first. "There's, well, there is talk of a betrothal contract." She explained bluntly.

"For me?" Susan squeaked out in shock.

"For me," Amelia shook her head quickly, pausing Susan's imminent panic attack.

"You and James?" Susan bounced on the couch excitedly when she realised what her aunt was saying.

"Yes," Amelia confirmed with a nod.

"Oh auntie!" Susan smiled widely, turning around on the couch so she could hug her auntie properly. "That's amazing!"

"I know," Amelia laughed, hugging Susan back and laughing down into her hair as she held her close. "However, I know you're aware of our line continuance issues?"

"Me," Susan whispered, her hug growing loose as she realised what this meant for her.

"Actually, me." Julia interrupted, causing Susan to flick her head around to Julia in shock.

"Mother?" Daphne asked, raising a single pale blonde eyebrow at that piece of news.

"We have discussed it, and yes, we are... going to see if we are suitable together for the arrangement." Julia confirmed with a nod. "I will be taking the Potter name if the betrothal goes through to a wedding." She explained.

"Which means I'll still be a Bones, even though I'm married to James." Amelia explained. "Which also means, there won't be any continuance problems for you, hopefully." She explained, looking down to Susan with a soft smile.

"So Harry will be my brother?" Susan asked with a wide grin. "A real brother?"

"Our brother," Daphne corrected her with a small smile of her own. "And I've acquired another sister it seems." She said with a smirk.

"Oh my god, sisters?" Susan whispered as that fact filtered into her brain.

"Of course, if you, and Astoria for that matter, chose to take the Potter name, that will be up to you." Julia confirmed, looking down at her daughter.

"Father was happy to see our name fall extinct with my generation," Daphne mused aloud. "I see no reason not to allow it." She explained with a nod. "I'll think about it." She said with a small smile, running 'Daphne Elise Potter' through her head a few times to see how she felt about it.

"Daphne Potter?" Susan voiced aloud with a giggle as if she was reading Daphne's mind. "I like it." She admitted, smiling as she thought about it.

"It does have certain connotations to it." Daphne admitted, being linked to Harry and Professor Potter as family would certainly have both a lot of positive aspects, as well as more than a few negative aspects for her to consider as a Slytherin. "I assume there is no date set for these discussions yet?"

"No," Julia shook her head. "We have only... I would say we are entering the betrothal slowly as we speak."

"Of course," Daphne nodded thoughtfully at that. "Astoria?"

"I'll be speaking to her this afternoon when I am finished here." Julia admitted.

"Then... I hope it goes well." Daphne said softly, giving her mother a soft smile at the news. "It would be good to see you happy again with someone." She admitted with another smile.

"I know," Julia smiled down, nodding at her daughter to indicate she knew what she meant.

"So, you don't mind this then?" Amelia asked curiously, looking to Susan and Daphne in turn.

"Nope, it's great!" Susan grinned up at her. "I get a brother, and two sisters!" She said with an excited laugh.

"If it makes my mother happy, I'm not going to object." Daphne shook her head at that. "This... this will be a rather large family now." She explained after thinking about it.

"Two Hufflepuffs and a Slytherin," Amelia chuckled at the thought. "Maybe two if Astoria is sorted the same way."

"And a Gryffindor," Julia added in with a small smirk. "Neville is James' godson, since his parents are... well, it's down to James to fill in the role of his father for him."

"I see," Daphne nodded at that. "Two brothers then." She mused aloud. "Interesting." She whispered to herself, wondering how that would affect things when it became public knowledge that her family was linked to the Potters, Bones, and Longbottom families.

"We just need a Ravelclaw to collect the entire set," Amelia laughed, shaking her head at the thought.

"Astoria," Daphne said wryly, looking up at Amelia with a nod. "She spends more time around books than anyone else I know."

"She'll fit right in with Susan and Harry then," Amelia chuckled. "Those two barely took their heads out of their Charms book in the month before Hogwarts started."

"Auntie!" Susan exclaimed with an embarrassed frown on her face.

"So you both are alright with this then?" Amelia double checked. "I understand if things might be a bit weird, having James as a Professor as well as... well, a step father if things go as well as I think they will." She explained thoughtfully. "I know James wouldn't want to replace your father, either of you, but he will be there for you if you need him for anything like that."

"Of course," Daphne nodded thoughtfully. That was certainly a positive thing to add to the thought, having the Defeater-of-Dumbledore and Vanquisher-of-Voldemort as a father figure would definitely stop any betrothal contracts heading her way, or to Astoria, from the darker families.

She could certainly see why her mother would be interested in a betrothal like this, it protected her and Astoria with a far greater threat than anything the Greengrass family would be able to manage on their own.

"Fine," Amelia smiled over to Julia who nodded in response before she flicked her wand towards the doorway and cancelled the silencing charm around them. "You can come back in now." She called out, waiting for a brief moment before James came back into the room with Harry following a few steps behind him.

Susan was up in an instant, dashing over to Harry where she practically glom hugged him, causing him to tumble into the wall and hold onto it to keep from falling over. "We'll be brother and sister, really really brother and sister!" She grinned excitedly at him.

"So, I guess they don't have a problem with it then?" James asked with a grin as he looked around the room to where Amelia was trying not to laugh at Susan's reaction.

"It doesn't appear so," Julia shook her head with a small smile on her lips.

"Congratulations Po... Harry," Daphne stood up, catching herself in time before giving him a wry smile of her own. "You seem to have acquired three sisters in a single day. Perhaps setting a record at the same time." She mused thoughtfully.

"Probably," Harry laughed as Susan untangled herself from her hugging position.

"Where's Neville and Hermione?" Susan asked, looking through to the office to see if they were waiting there politely.

"Out practising knockback charms," James explained. "I forgot I'd invited them before I floo'ed you." He explained to Amelia. "They probably went to the Gryffindor common room, or down to get some more lunch."

"Knockback charms are going to be our next homework then?" Daphne asked curiously, always wanting to get ahead with some inside information if she could.

"Next week," James nodded at her. "After that, the full body-bind curse. Used in tandem, they can be quite effective and chain together relatively easily with practice."

"Thank you," Daphne nodded at that, making a mental note to check both those out so that she could start practising ahead of schedule.

"Should we... um... leave the adults to talk?" Harry asked, looking at Susan first and then to Daphne.

"Or find somewhere where we can talk as well?" Susan nodded, drawing a nod of agreement from Daphne as well.

"Right, um... nice to see you again Miss Bones, and to meet you Miss Greengrass." Harry smiled over politely to the two other adults.

"How many times do I have to ask you to call me Amelia?" Amelia laughed, standing up from the couch and smiling at him.

"And I'm Julia to you young man." Julia smiled down at him as well. "It was nice to meet you too."

"I'm glad you're OK," Susan said, quickly running to give her auntie one last hug. "And I'm really glad we're all going to be one big family now."

"Mother," Daphne smiled, quickly giving her mother a small hug.

"Owl me if you need anything, or speak with James of course, he can contact me by floo, I'll arrange for him to have the address as well." Julia said with a smile over to her daughter.

"Of course," Daphne smiled back, waiting for Susan to finish hugging her aunt before she followed Harry out of the room with Susan following her out into the corridor and closing the office door behind them.

"That... was really awkward." Harry admitted with a groan.

"Exceedingly," Daphne nodded in agreement.

"I thought it was cute," Susan laughed. "It's going to be weird, going from practically no family to..."

"A huge family," Harry finished off for her, firmly in agreement with her thought.

Living with the Dursleys had never really been like a family for him, his aunt and uncle made sure that Harry knew that he wasn't part of their family and repeatedly told him that freaks like him didn't really deserve a family of their own anyway.

Living with his older self and Sirius had been the closest thing to a family he'd ever actually been part of, and now he was adding three sisters and apparently step-mums, plural, to that family as well.

"I've never had a mum before," Harry admitted quietly, looking at Susan and Daphne with a small amount of jealousy at how they'd grown up with loving families like that.

"I've never had a brother or sisters before," Susan admitted. "I don't even have cousins." She said softly.

"I've got one," Harry frowned at the thought of Dudley. "I wouldn't inflict him on anyone though, he's like Malfoy's bodyguards, put together."

Even Daphne shuddered at that mental image, wondering how anyone in the Potter family could be like that.

"I'm happy to forget he even exists, I'm sure he's thinking the same about me." Harry said simply with a small shrug. "I've got my dad, that's all I need right?"

"And us, you've got us now too." Susan reminded him with a wide smile.

"Obviously," Daphne nodded in agreement. "And now we know the upcoming spells Professor Potter is going to be teaching next week. Flipendo and Petrificus Totalus. We can practice those together as well."

"Um," Susan blushed slightly as she looked away from Daphne while Harry grinned openly at that.

"What?" Daphne frowned at them both.

"We already know those," Harry grinned over. "Dad taught us tons before Hogwarts, we got upto Glacius and Ventus before we got on the train."

"You're joking?" Daphne drawled out, looking to Harry first then narrowing her eyes and turning to Susan, noticing her blush was still evident. "Really?" She whispered, shock creeping in as she realised how far ahead this meant Harry and Susan were.

"I'm not that great at them yet, but I can get Glacius to work, most of the time." Susan admitted. "Harry's better at Ventus though, but he's always flying around so he just understands air and wind better I think."

"You... you both..." Daphne stuttered out before setting her hands on her hips and glaring at them both together. "You two are teaching me everything, starting now!" She demanded. "I am NOT going to be the underachiever in this family, you hear me!" She practically shouted, grabbing on to both Harry and Susan and dragging them away to find somewhere where they could actually go over exactly how far ahead they were and what they needed to teach Daphne to fend off her temper before it blew.

* * *

_**AN:** Just for anyone commenting about Harry and Susan learning spells from 3rd year already... in canon in happens regularly, Harry learns the patronus spell at least 4 years early, as it's 'beyond NEWT level' apparently... and Draco uses serpensortia, a 4th year spell, early in second year. _

_Learning Spells in the magical world doesn't seem to be restricted by age, only by the power of the caster and how the curriculum is taught, so any student that had the power and skill to cast spells ahead of what they've been taught, can do so without issue. _


	20. Chapter 20

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**7th September**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

As the first weekend of the school year rolled around, James had spent the Saturday morning so far rearranging his office at Hogwarts, making it feel more 'him' and not just another office at the school that he was squatting in.

He'd tossed out quite a few of the books from the shelves that he knew were either biased, outright lies, or simply not worth the paper they were printed on, and replaced them with better tomes from the Potter and Black libraries, so he could read them in peace in the office without Sirius bothering him at The Manor.

He'd set up a nice new perch for Hedwig by the main window of the office, looking out onto the Quidditch pitch and the grounds below. It had been a surprise that Hedwig seemed to split her time between him and his younger self, but seeing as neither of them really sent any owl mail at all, it didn't really bother him and he found it quite nostalgic to have his old familiar around again pestering him for treats and slips of bacon.

A copy of 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts' by Bathilda Bagshot was open underneath Hedwig's perch, as the best use James could find for it was catching treats, feathers, and Hedwig's droppings on it's pages. Hermione would have probably strenuously objected to his treatment of a book like that, but given how laughably biased and intrusive to his life the damned book was, it was either using it like that, or leaving it in the bathroom to be used as emergency toilet paper.

He'd happily re-arranged the office as well, moving the desk and a few chairs around to make it a more comfortable area, that way Harry, Susan and Daphne, or even Hermione or Neville, would be able to come in and chat with him any time they wanted and have space to sit down in a more casual setting, instead of the professional and rigid arrangement the furniture had been placed in originally.

On the wall above his desk he'd spread out the marauders map and stuck it to the wall with a quick charm, a few more charms protected it and stopped anyone from noticing it aside from him, but it was a nice feature in the room and gave him something to idly watch while sitting at his desk, letting him keep an eye on the various people around the school while reading or relaxing.

It was quite amusing to watch when he'd noticed that the map still recognised him as 'Harry James Potter', along with his younger self as well, giving them both the same name tags that were indistinguishable from each other. That had been the main reason for securing it away behind a few notice-me-not charms, along with being able to keep an eye on his younger self, along with Susan, Daphne, Hermione and Neville.

"Come in Neville," He shouted aloud, spotting Neville on the map hanging around outside his office. After a second he flicked his wand towards the door, pushing it open to reveal Neville stood outside with a surprised look on his face. "Professor McGonagall spoke to you already then?"

"This morning," Neville admitted as he nervously stepped inside the office.

"Figured as much," James nodded at that, having spoken to Minerva last night about Neville's wand problems. "Come on then, no time like the present." He grinned, grabbing his trench-coat from the coat-stand and closing his office door before leading Neville through to the living room area where the fireplace was situated. "Leaky Cauldron, then we'll go from there."

"Pro... Professor McGonagall said... she said you'd be buying my wand?" Neville asked hesitantly.

"Yup," James nodded before sighing. "Relax Neville, seriously." He said with a smile. "I'm not your gran, I'm not going to shout or tell you off or anything like that." He explained. "It's her fault you haven't got a matching wand, not yours. And it's my job to sort that out, both as your professor, and as your godfather." He pointed out.

"I just... I don't want to be a bother." Neville practically whispered.

"Neville, you're not a bother. Not to me, not to your friends, not to anyone that matters." James said firmly, making sure Neville understood exactly what he was saying. "Go on, you can go first." He said, nudging Neville towards the fireplace to take some of the floo powder first.

He watched with an approving nod as Neville took the floo powder and stepped into the fireplace, vanishing after announcing "The Leaky Cauldron". James then waited a few seconds for Neville to get out of the fireplace at the pub before stepping in himself and vanishing from Hogwarts in a swirl of emerald fire.

* * *

**Outskirts of Hartoft End **

**North York Moors National Park **

The forests around the North Yorkshire Moors were thick and overgrown, making it perfect camouflage as Sirius Black apparated onto the deserted moor and stepped out onto the hillside, looking around with his wand already out as he checked his surroundings.

"Alright, I'm here." He called out, listening to his voice reverberate around the empty moors.

"Padfoot?"

He spun instantly at the voice, his wand up and a dozen curses on his lips instantly before he recognised the voice and spotted who it belonged to. "Mooney!" He grinned, stepping forward and pulling his old friend into a tight hug, not even bothering to pocket his wand as he savoured the feeling of friendship again. "Where in the name of Morgana's knickers have you been you old wolf?"

"France," Remus admitted as Sirius let go of the hug and stepped back. "I was under a quite a few wards with a pack there. I only just got your owls a few days ago, it took me that long to get back here."

"That explains it," Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"Mind explaining all of this then?" Remus asked, fishing out a few newspaper clippings from his tweet suit jacket "James Potter defeats Voldemort? Expels Dumbledore from Hogwarts? The rise of the Prophecised Potters?" He asked aloud, reading a few of the headlines. "Potter strikes again, Potter three, werewolf headless?"

"That last one was Greyback," Sirius pointed out to Remus' visible shock. "He attacked Diagon Alley a few days ago with a group of Death Eaters, Junior objected and blew off his head."

"Junior?" Remus asked, raising a lone eyebrow at the name.

"I mean..." Sirius sighed, running his hand through his long curly hair. "Remus, where the hell have you been?" He demanded. "They tossed me in Azkaban, no trial, nothing, where in Merlin's name were you?"

"I..." Remus winced, looking down at the ground when he didn't have a suitable excuse. "After... After James and Lily... then hearing you were the one that betrayed them to Voldemort..." He winced, hearing how stupid it sounded. "Dumbledore asked me to keep an eye on the werewolf packs across the water."

"Dumbledore asked?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. "What about Harry? You were supposed to take him in if anything happened to me and James, what happened there?"

"Dumbledore said..."

"Dumbledore can go to fucking hell!" Sirius yelled out, interrupting Remus and leaving him with a shocked expression on his face. "Dumbledore kidnapped Harry from me, you know that? If he hadn't taken Harry, then I never would have gone after Pettigrew and been tossed into Azkaban!" He shouted before continuing on with his rant. "Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, you know that right? So how come I was left to rot in Azkaban for a decade when he could have got me a trial any time he wanted?"

"Padfoot, I was only..."

"Following Dumbledore's orders?" Sirius interrupted him again. "Did you even argue? Try and see Harry? Take him in, make sure he was alright after James and Lily had been killed by that monster?"

The way Remus looked away told him everything he needed to know.

"Sirius..."

"Did you try?" Sirius demanded.

"I asked Dumbledore, he said..."

"Dumbledore said!" Sirius cut him off again. "Have you got any other reasons for anything you've done that doesn't start with bloody Dumbledore said?" He asked.

As Remus looked down at his feet again, Sirius realised that Junior was right on the galleon. Remus had abandoned him exactly as he'd said, he'd followed Dumbledore's orders like a good little puppy and had simply forgotten about him and about Harry, content to just do whatever Dumbledore asked him to, and forget about the loyalty that was supposedly so important to them as The Marauders.

"They never would have let me even get close to Harry, you know that." Remus explained with a pained expression on his face.

"Don't pull that shit with me Remus," Sirius said bluntly, pointing at Remus as he stalked away and paced around angrily. "You could have tried. Even if you didn't take him in, you could have got a place nearby and looked in on him, checked up on him, been there for him."

"I'm a werewolf, they wouldn't let me anywhere near him, it wasn't even worth trying!" Remus argued back. "I'm dangerous, you know that!"

"You're a werewolf thirteen nights of the year!" Sirius shot back. "Thirteen!"

"Why does it even matter? I saw the papers, James is alive, why does it even matter that I couldn't take him in when James should have..." Remus trailed off as he saw the thundering look on Sirius' face glaring at him.

"You have absolutely no idea what's been going on," Sirius growled out.

Remus backed up at that, having past experience with Sirius temper when he got riled up about something.

"Junior was right, you abandoned Harry, abandoned me, abandoned everyone." Sirius spat out. "Go back to France, and stay the hell away from me and Harry." He shouted before twisting on the spot and vanishing with an angry crack that echoed out across the moors.

Remus was simply left there at the edge of the woodlands wondering exactly what the hell was going on.

For the last ten years he'd thought James and Lily were dead, just like Peter, Sirius was their betrayer and murderer, and that Harry was safe and happy, growing up secure under Albus Dumbledore's careful watch.

The copies of the Daily Prophet however told an entirely different story. A story of Sirius being exonerated after a decade of unjust imprisonment, of James Potter's resurgent return at the same time as Voldemort, his war against both Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore.

None of it made any sense whatsoever, and Sirius' anger at his answers made even less sense than that. He needed answers, he needed a lot of answers, the problem was, he had absolutely no idea where to go to get them now.

* * *

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

"But Cornelius, surely you must see that..."

Amelia smirked to herself as she approached Minister Fudge's office, recognising the screeching tones of Dolores Umbridge from inside.

"I've said enough Dolores," Minister Fudge's voice replied with a harsher tone than Amelia had ever heard from him before. "You will abide by the new contracts, or find another job. Security of The Ministry is our number one priority right now. If you can't accept that, I'll find someone that will."

Amelia smiled at that comment before steeling herself, returning her face to a controlled mask before she knocked on the door firmly and waited. "Come in." After hearing Minister Fudge's usual welcome she pushed the door open and walked through, happily ignoring the vicious glare that Undersecretary Umbridge sent her way as she walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Ah, Amelia, perfect, I was waiting for you." Minister Fudge beamed, standing up from his desk with a wide smile on his face.

"Minister," Amelia gave a small nod of recognition, happy to completely ignore Dolores for the moment.

"I'm sure you've heard, we got the finished copies of the contracts written up by the Unspeakables." Minister Fudge explained.

"I looked over them myself," Amelia said with a glance towards one of the contracts on Minister Fudge's desk. "They look suitable enough."

"Quite so, quite so." Minister Fudge quickly nodded. "I was saying just the same thing myself." He continued as he walked around his desk. "Loyalty to The Ministry, to all of The Ministry's laws, and to enforce the laws regardless of blood purity or race."

Amelia nodded at that, it was a rather simplistic view of the contracts involved, but it hit on the finer points well enough. Nobody who signed the contracts could work or assist anyone who was involved in disrupting or infiltrating The Ministry for any reason, and must at all times both abide by, and uphold, the laws of The Ministry. Anyone who broke their contract would be notified immediately of their dismissal by an automatic parchment, and a copy of a broken contract would be sent both to The Minister, to Amelia, and to The Unspeakables.

There were separate contracts for both Aurors, Department Heads and above, and for regular Ministry workers. Each detailing specific clauses, regulations, and expected behaviour from each of them.

They weren't perfect by a long stretch, but The Unspeakables had done absolutely fantastic work on them given the short time they had to work with.

"Ahem," Umbridge coughed gently. "Surely these contracts are... well, superfluous. You can't seriously be suggesting that anyone in The Ministry would be working against our goals Minister?"

"We've already found two Death Eaters working in The Auror department, I've received a tip of at least one more, with another working for a different person trying to use their position to compromise the Aurors." Amelia explained bluntly.

"Who?" Minister Fudge demanded, looking at Amelia with a surprised look on his face.

"Auror Dawlish has been confirmed as a pure blood bigot in line with Voldemort's regime." Amelia said, watching as Umbridge flinched at the name. "I've checked through his records, there's a few times he's let known Death Eaters skate when they should have been brought in, and he's had more than a few complaints from other Aurors about his brazen attitude and thug handed methods when dealing with muggle-born incidents."

"Surely that doesn't justify..."

"I'm keeping an eye on him for this weekend, if he isn't willing to sign the contract, we'll have our answer then." Amelia said, happily cutting off Umbridge without a care about what she was going to say.

"And... the other? The one not working for Lord Thingie?" Minister Fudge asked curiously.

"Auror Shacklebolt." Amelia explained with a frown. "Apparently he's been under Dumbledore's influence for some time now. Albus used him to stop investigations into the school and whatever else he was up to, along with hiding away investigations into other members of the so called 'Order of the Phoenix' that Albus lead."

"Well, not good, not good at all. No, we certainly can't have that." Minister Fudge said, shaking his head quickly at that piece of news. "They'll both be signing the contracts?"

"If they don't, they'll be fired on the spot." Amelia explained with a small nod. "I won't have my Aurors suborned by anyone. Not Voldemort, not Albus Dumbledore, nobody."

"Yes, yes, I quite agree." Minister Fudge nodded eagerly at that. "We shall roll out the contracts first thing Monday."

"I'll have the Aurors sign them first, then arrange for an Unspeakable to join me in presenting them to the rest of the Department Heads. From there, we'll work our way around the entire Ministry." Amelia gave a small smile at the way Minister Fudge was happy to go along with everything she was doing.

"Well, I certainly won't be signing one of these hideous things. They're completely unneeded, why, it's almost as if..."

"You have a problem with upholding our security and law?" Amelia asked, cutting Umbridge off.

"Of course not," Undersecretary Umbridge explained sweetly. "But there are certain compromises that must be adhered to. Why, you can't seriously expect half-breeds and... muggle-born's to have the same freedoms and laws that our respected pure blood families have?"

"I do, and I will enforce those laws, regardless of blood purity." Amelia said bluntly.

"And... James, what does he think of this?" Minister Fudge asked curiously, looking to Amelia to get a hint as to what the most popular wizard in the country was planning.

"He's a hundred percent behind me," Amelia explained with a wry smile. "He supports the security of The Ministry and keeping it out of Voldemort's hands entirely. I'm sure you're aware of how he dealt with the werewolf attack a few days ago?"

"I had heard, yes." Minister Fudge agreed with a nod. "Dreadful business that, he was the one who... err..."

"Killed Greyback, yes. A single fatal curse, rather messy, but entirely justified in my eyes." Amelia confirmed.

"Of course, dealing with beasts like that is another matter entirely Cornelius." Undersecretary Umbridge simpered with a girlish laugh. "But surely you can't be expecting pure blood families to follow the same laws and behaviours as beasts like that? Or mud... muggle-borns?"

"You'll remember, James Potter's first wife was a muggle-born, or as you were about to call her, a mudblood." Amelia said scathingly, catching on to what Umbridge was about to say before she corrected herself. "Young Harry has made good friends with a muggle-born witch from what I've heard. I'm sure James would have quite a few words for you if he heard what you were suggesting." She said bluntly, fixing Umbridge with a glare that told her most of those words would be suitably fatal curses that would leave Umbridge as little more than a smear on the wall.

"Yes, yes, of course. Lily Potter. Dreadful what happened to her." Minister Fudge said quickly. "Yes, I can certainly see where James would be coming from. Equal laws and rights for all, certainly a law I can bring my office behind."

"I'm happy to hear that Minister." Amelia smiled, turning from Umbridge when she saw the murderous look in her eyes. "If you wish to take it up with James, I'm certain he would oblige you Dolores. He's already made a point of informing a few of the bigots he's come across that he will happily invoke an honour duel to clear up the situation if you prefer?"

"An... an honour duel? Really Amelia?" Cornelius stammered out.

"Oh yes, he's quite confident about it." Amelia smirked as she saw fear starting to leak into Umbridge's expression. "Anyone targeting muggle born students or families would be the first called out by him. I get the impression he's rather eager actually, after all, he's defeated Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore, killed Fenrir Greyback, I imagine it's quite hard for him to find a suitable challenge." She said bluntly, fixing Umbridge with a look. "Should I let him know you'll be happy to face him then?"

"I most certainly will not," Undersecretary Umbridge huffed quickly. "And I certainly won't be signing one of those... those dreadful things." She spat out, glaring down at the contract on The Minister's desk.

"Then you can leave." Minister Fudge said firmly. Standing beside Amelia and feeling a hundred times the man he used to be.

"But Cornelius, surely you have to see that..."

"I mean it Dolores. Monday morning, I'll be expecting everyone in this office to sign one. If you don't, then you won't be returning to The Ministry. Not on my watch."

"Cornelius, surely you can't expect..."

"Out Dolores, either sign the contract, or pack your desk up and leave. It's a simple choice." Minister Fudge ordered, pointing towards the office door.

It was a very satisfied Amelia that watched Undersecretary Umbridge slink away, thinking of all the people she knew that would actually pay money to see the memory of her walking away like that after the way she'd treated people for years.

As Dolores closed the door behind her, Amelia made a mental note to warn James to keep an eye out for her in the future. She already knew that he had a specific grudge against the woman for what she'd done in his future, so it was entirely likely he was already keeping tabs on her and making plans to deal with her in his own time.

"Dreadful business," Minister Fudge explained, shaking his head as he watched the door close.

"She won't sign the contract. I wouldn't expect her or Auror Dawlish to sign them." Amelia explained her thoughts. "Dirk Cresswell might be worth considering to replace her." She added after a moment's thought.

"Cresswell?" Minister Fudge asked quickly, more than happy to listen to Amelia's advice on this matter.

"Yes, down in the Goblin Liaison Office at the moment. He's been passed over for promotions quite a few times now, quite the wizard actually. Fluent in Gobbledegook as well, he has better dealings with Gringotts than anyone else I know come to think of it." Amelia explained.

"Hmm, have him come and see me on Monday if he signs one of the contracts." Minister Fudge agreed, making a mental note of the name to look it up.

"I was planning to speak to him anyway," Amelia admitted. "He'd certainly be a far better replacement than anyone Dolores would expect to take her place."

"I'll keep that in mind," Minister Fudge smiled genially at that. "Now, shall we go over plans for distributing and collecting these contracts?" He asked, moving back to his desk and picking up the contract in question before waiting for Amelia to take a seat and start their planning.

* * *

**Hyde Park**

**London**

The sun was hanging low on the horizon that evening as James, Sirius and Amelia cautiously made their way into Hyde Park for the meeting Sirius had arranged. None of them really knew what to expect, with James thinking there was a fifty fifty chance the entire thing was a trap, and Sirius simply spoiling for a fight after spending half the afternoon ranting at James about Remus.

"Up there," Amelia said, nodding up towards the stone stairway in the park that led up to the areas with the bandstand and path back into the city.

It was an area off the beaten track so to speak, so they'd be able to talk there without fear of being interrupted, but it was also a public enough area that in theory, everyone meeting should be wary about breaking into spellfire.

"You two head on, I'll follow." James commented, falling back a few paces and pulling out his invisible cloak with practised ease.

Amelia turned her head just in time to see the shimmer of James' cloak before he vanished entirely from view, then setting her mind to the task ahead she simply strode on without breaking step, heading to the stairway and making her way towards the top, her wand already in hand just in case James was right and it was a trick.

They were about half way up the stairs when the clocks around the city started to chime, marking eight o'clock in the evening. The chimes punctuated by two loud cracks from behind Sirius and Amelia, causing them to spin around on the stairs with their wands out ready for action.

"Punctual as always," Amelia commented, not lowering her wand as she carefully watched Lucius and Narcissa disdainfully look around their surroundings.

"A muggle park, really?" Lucius drawled out, looking around but subtly evaluating both Amelia and Sirius as he approached them with Narcissa a step behind him.

"A good and neutral location," Amelia pointed out quickly before Sirius could say anything and start an argument.

"Very well," Lucius sniffed before nodding slowly, accepting that that sort of strategy would be something he would employ for a meeting like this as well. "I assume you have made sure we are not being followed or overheard?"

"There's no one around, not unless you count the various muggles anyway." Amelia pointed out.

"I'm sure," Lucius drawled out, rolling his eyes as he placed his snake motif cane down regally and casually started playing with the silver snake head, running his fingers over it's teeth in a practised move as he watched Bones and Black carefully for their reactions. "I'm sure you're both curious why I asked for this meeting."

"I'd be lying if I wasn't," Amelia admitted with a nod.

"Tom Riddle has returned." Lucius explained simply.

"I didn't expect to hear you using that name," Amelia frowned, the fact that Lucius was calling Voldemort by his real name was very telling indeed. "You believe the Prophet then?"

"I have my own avenues of proof that I chose to trust," Lucius explained dryly, his smirk saying everything about how he knew the Daily Prophet couldn't be trusted for something as simple as a weather report, let alone something as important as this.

"And?" Sirius interrupted, stepping forward before Amelia could say anything else. "We all know you sided with him last time, what's this all about?" He demanded.

"I sided with him," Lucius sneered disdainfully at the simplistic nature of the words. "Without knowing the truth. Now that I know, things are different."

"Don't want to be kissing the robes of a half blood then," Sirius smirked over, seeing the look of disgust on Lucius face.

"My reasons are my own," Lucius bit out firmly, glaring across at Sirius and fighting back the urge to turn the meeting into a far more antagonistic place than would be profitable. "Are you aware of the method Riddle used to prevent his demise?"

"We are," Amelia said quickly, fixing Sirius with a look to tell him she'd take care of this.

"Then you know how dangerous these... objects are." Lucius nodded thoughtfully. "Might I assume you are already working to destroy them?"

"You can assume," Amelia said, not confirming or denying Lucius suspicions.

"Your vague dissembling is beneath you," Lucius muttered, shaking his head slowly. "If you weren't working to destroy them, you would be supporting him. Something I know neither you or Black would ever do." He explained, rolling his eyes at their simplistic thought processes and blundering bluffs.

"Fine, yes, we're destroying the damn things." Sirius said firmly. "What about it?"

"I had assumed that he had made more than just the one... three perhaps?" Lucius asked curiously. "More?" He asked, the colour fading from his face when he realised how depraved Riddle really had been. "How many?" He asked in a horrified voice.

"Five," Amelia confirmed after sharing a look with Sirius.

"I see," Lucius muttered, calculating that with a wince as he realised how fractured and distorted Riddle's soul must actually be. Five wasn't even a magical number of any significance, which left him dubious about why Riddle would chose to only make five of the abominations. "Very well, a peace offering if you will..." He explained, slowly reaching into his robes and removing the parcel, lifting it out so that Amelia and Sirius could see he wasn't about to attack them before holding it out.

"Oh Merlin's bollocks," Sirius whispered quickly, backing up a few steps when he felt the dark magic radiating from the parcel in Malfoy's hands.

"Is that..."

"I'll take that,"

Lucius flinched slightly at the new voice, his eyes automatically flicking around to find where it was coming from while his hand tightened around the head of his cane, ready to retrieve his wand and start casting at a moment's notice.

The gossamer shimmer on the steps nearly evaded his notice until he spotted someone coming out from beneath it, wrapping the shimmer up in a practised sweep of his hand and stuffing it into his pocket.

The wizard was dressed distressingly like Black was, in half muggle clothing with a magical twist. The faded blue muggle jeans were something he saw on mudbloods enough in Diagon Alley to recognise. The thick and heavy boots were very clearly muggle instead of wizarding wear, but the long copper coloured dragon-skin trench-coat indicated very clearly of this new wizards allegiance, and made identifying him pathetically easy given the descriptions he'd heard of James Potter already.

"If you wish," Lucius smirked, not showing any visible sign that Potter's appearance had surprised him in the least.

James nodded, pacing over slowly and gingerly taking the wrapped book from Lucius' hand, unwrapping it only enough to identify it as the diary he remembered from his second year. "Riddle's diary." He confirmed with a nod, wrapping it up again before stuffing it into his outside pocket. "Why?" He asked, fixing Malfoy with a curious look.

"Malfoy's don't lose," Lucius said simply. "We certainly don't bow down to half blood traitors." He explained with a sneer. "Any other reasons I have are my own."

"Fair enough," James commented after a moment's contemplation. "We're going to destroy him this time, you know that right?" He asked, drawing a single raised eyebrow from Lucius. "Him and any of the Death Eaters that go crawling back to him."

"I had heard about Angus' capture already, I assume it was you that relieved him of his arm in battle?" Lucius asked curiously.

"And took off Greyback's head," Sirius jumped in with a grin.

"Quite," Lucius grimaced at the pathetically blunt nature of the warning. "And this is your warning perhaps?"

"I won't be giving the other Death Eaters any warning," James explained without breaking eye contact with Malfoy. "I'm not playing by Dumbledore's half-arsed rules anymore. Anyone siding with that bastard is the walking dead, they just don't know it yet."

"I had assumed not," Malfoy sneered, continuing to stare across at Potter and happily ignoring Bones and Black as if they were irrelevant. "Not since you attacked your old mentor as well."

"He had it coming," James frowned over. "That and a whole lot more."

"Indeed?" Lucius smirked, raising an eyebrow at that piece of knowledge.

"As of Monday, the Aurors will officially have been brought up to war footing." Amelia interrupted, drawing Lucius' attention over to her. "Lethal casting in situations where suspected Death Eaters are involved." She explained bluntly.

"I see," Lucius nodded, not really surprised by this piece of news either. With Cornelius running to Amelia instead of him and Dumbledore, there was no surprise she'd used the influence to push for a more aggressive Auror force. "Veritaserum questioning as well I can assume?"

"Naturally." Amelia confirmed with a nod. "Nobody's buying their way out of it this time around. When Death Eaters are caught, if they're still alive, it's Azkaban or a Kiss for them."

"Then it would seem I have certainly chosen the right side, as you can see." Lucius smirked, gesturing to James' pocket where the diary was stored. "I have very little doubt that Riddle will expect me to come to him when he regains a body, when that happens, I will of course be removing my family from the country entirely."

"It won't." James said bluntly. "He's not getting a body back, not now, not ever." He said with a firm nod.

"You seem awfully sure of yourself," Lucius drawled out. "Pride goeth before the fall."

"Maybe, but if I fall, I'm dragging that bastard down with me." James explained. "And anyone else that gets in my way."

"The prophecy I assume," Lucius mused aloud. "Giving you courage perhaps? I can assume it speaks of you defeating him, given how he was quite single minded in his pursuit of you ten years ago before his defeat, it's the only thing that makes sense." He frowned at that thought, drumming his fingers along his cane. "Very well, I have laid my marker as you can see, I have no wish to rejoin Riddle and his suicidal followers."

"He hasn't been in contact with you yet then?" Amelia pressed on.

"No," Lucius answered simply. "Nor did I have any indication of his plans for Hogwarts this year. If I had, I would have insisted Draco attend Durmstrang instead."

"You know Igor Karkaroff's the headmaster there then?" James asked with a small smirk as he saw the shock flicker across Malfoy's face for a second before it vanished behind his mask again.

"I did," Lucius bit out. "Not many people are aware of that fact Mr Potter." He frowned, Potter obviously had wider reaching connections than he had assumed. "I would assume you know where Riddle has been all these years then?"

"A few of them," James admitted. "Albania recently, until Dumbledore lured him back to the country with the Philosophers Stone."

"I had heard rumours that he had created a trap for Riddle, he planned on luring Riddle to the school while my son was there?" Lucius demanded, the anger now visible on his face as he contemplated what he was being told.

"Dumbledore's a bastard, we all know that." Sirius interrupted. "As interesting as this voyage down Voldemort's history is, what does it have to do with anything?"

"As Albania is one of the countries that sends students to Durmstrang, I find it certainly interesting that Riddle would spend time there where Karkaroff is so close." Lucius explained with a glare towards Sirius. "You don't find that curious?"

"I don't believe in coincidences." James admitted. He hadn't really thought about the connection before, but given that Voldemort had had Karkaroff hunted down and killed in the years after the Tri-Wizard Tournament, he wasn't really betting on there being any serious connection between the two. "He gave evidence against other Death Eaters in exchange for leniency. Fled the country rather than hang around for any remaining Death Eaters to hunt him down." He explained thoughtfully. "I'm actually surprised you stayed on good terms with him, good enough to send Draco out to Durmstrang?"

"Karkaroff knew my allegiance was never fully with Riddle," Lucius confirmed, seeing no point in denying anything now. "I may agree with his sentiments, but never to his methods."

"Interesting," James mused, watching Malfoy's reactions very carefully. "And Snape?"

"Severus?" Lucius asked, raising an eyebrow at the unexpected question. "I'm aware of the antagonistic history between the two of you if that's what you mean." He mused aloud. "Am I to assume he is a target of your wrath, much like Riddle and Dumbledore?"

"He's on my shitlist," James admitted. "For a few personal reasons, but he's not high up there at the moment." He said thoughtfully. "Heard from him?"

"No," Lucius admitted. "He is Draco's godfather, I believe he had been looking forward to spending time with him at Hogwarts."

"Sorry to ruin that for him," James smirked, making Sirius snort with laughter at the dry comment. "Considering he's the one who passed The Prophecy over to Voldemort, I don't really have that much sympathy for any trouble I'm sending his way."

"I see," Lucius nodded, accepting that this was Potter's subtle way of indicating that Severus' life expectancy should be measured in days and weeks, barely anything longer. After all, anyone that had caused someone to target his family and brutally slaughter Narcissa, would certainly be in for a very painful death when he caught up with them. So he could certainly understand where James' ire was coming from on that fact.

At least knowing that, he could indicate to Draco to write to his godfather while he still had the chance. "Who has taken his position at Hogwarts then? I have not kept up with the current staffing situation."

"Andromeda," James explained, flicking his eyes over to Narcissa who was still stood patiently and silently behind Lucius.

"Andy?" Narcissa whispered, speaking up for the first time with her eyes showing her surprise at this piece of news.

"Haven't spoken to her yet either," Sirius admitted. "Didn't even know until Ju... James told me she'd got the position there."

"Ah yes, you took the position of Defence." Lucius smirked back. "I hope you aren't too worried about the curse."

"The one Voldemort left?" James snorted, shaking his head. "Already found the cursed artifact and dealt with it, did that before I even started my first class. Not exactly a challenge, Dumbledore should have dealt with it years ago, if he wasn't such a manipulative bastard I'd swear the old git's going senile."

"Charming, though I do agree with your conclusions." Lucius drawled out, making another mental note that Potter was apparently skilled enough to identify and destroy cursed artifacts made by Riddle, which gave a lot of credence to his story about tracking down and destroying the other dark artifacts he'd created. "I am curious, despite The Prophecy, why both Riddle and Dumbledore took so much time and effort over attempts to control your family." He mused aloud, looking over at James curiously now. "I do remember he offered you a position at his right hand several times before coming for you that night, no one else was ever given that many chances to defy him."

"Oh?" James asked, actually curious now. He'd never really heard about Voldemort trying to recruit his parents before, though given a lot of what he knew about them came from Dumbledore, Minerva and a few others, that wasn't saying much.

"Curious isn't it," Lucius mused. "Why both Riddle and Dumbledore would expend so much effort over one family. Your blood line perhaps?"

"You know then," James said simply, not bothering to deny it.

"Your link to the Peverell blood line obviously." Lucius nodded. "Ignotus wasn't it?"

"You should do the same research on Tom Riddle, he could claim the same." James explained with a small grin at the flicker of uncertainty that crossed Lucius face. "His mother was from the Gaunt family, you can trace that back to Cadmus Peverell."

"He always claimed he was of Slytherin's own bloodline," Lucius frowned thoughtfully, making a note to double check what Potter was claiming when he got chance. "His use of Parseltongue was proof enough of the claim. It is possible the Peverell's descended from Slytherin himself?" He mused before shaking the thought away to research later on. "Very well, I believe we have each made our positions clear with each other."

"Entirely," James nodded.

"I have written to Draco and instructed him on how he is to behave, I would... appreciate it if you have any problems with him, to contact me yourself." Lucius admitted, biting out the words as if they were a bad taste in his mouth.

"You take care of yours, I'll take care of mine." James nodded in agreement.

"Precisely." Lucius nodded amicably at that. "Very well, Narcissa." He said, gesturing for them both to take their leave.

'Bye Death Eater' James hissed out in Parseltongue as Lucius got ready to apparate away, causing him to stumble halfway through his twist at stare at him in a mixture of surprise and curiosity before he vanished with a crack.

"Really?" Amelia muttered, glaring at James.

"Couldn't resist," James smirked, flicking his tongue curiously. "Haven't spoken Parseltongue in years, I'd forgotten how weird that feels."

"You can speak Parseltongue?" Sirius whispered in shock.

"Really?" James muttered, rolling his eyes at Sirius. "I showed you my memories of my second year, how they were all thinking I was the Heir of Slytherin because of it?"

"I forgot that part," Sirius admitted with a grimace.

"And showing it off to Lucius Malfoy was..." Amelia prompted him.

"Keeping him off balance," James admitted. "He's still a pure blood bigot, even if he's not cheering Voldemort on. This way, he's thinking that me and the mini-me are descended from Slytherin as well, and he'll be wondering what other tricks I've got up my sleeve."

"You're not right though, descended from the snakes?" Sirius asked hopefully. "James never said any of that you know?"

"No, we're not," James explained, rolling his eyes at Sirius. "Can we get back to the manor now, I'd actually like to torch this thing before it starts leaking evil all over my coat."

"Good idea," Amelia nodded, thankful for the reminder of the Horcrux that was nestled in James' pocket right now. "One more down."

"One to go," James said aloud, though was inwardly still trying to figure out what to do about the one still nestled safely in his younger self.


	21. Chapter 21

**TITLE: Double Back **

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

_**AN:** Apologies for the wait with this batch... had a family emergency over the December / January time, so I barely had any time to myself to get anything done... been working on this though, and have the full intention of carrying this through to the bitter end lol_

* * *

_In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn_

_You'll find your place beside the ones you love_

_Oh, and all the things you dreamed of, the visions that you saw_

_Well, the time is drawing near now, it's yours to claim in all_

_~ "Son of Man" by Phil Collins_

**9th September**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland **

It was just after four as James casually ambled his way through the Hogwarts corridor towards the Transfiguration classroom on the ground floor.

The weekend, and Monday so far, had been a mixture of hectic news, relieving news, and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Leaving James somewhat bemused as he contemplated why he'd even said yes to Minerva's lunch time request for him to join her for the seventh year's Transfiguration lesson this afternoon.

After a long talk with Sirius after they'd torched Voldemort's diary like the others, which happened very shortly after Sirius has childishly written 'fuck off snake face' on the first page. The following talk had told him a bit more about what a 'betrothal agreement' actually meant to the pure blood traditions in the wizarding world.

Despite what he'd told his younger self, a betrothal for adult wizards and witches wasn't much like an engagement at all, it was more like a 'pre-engagement' sort of thing, a public announcement of a serious relationship was the best description he could come up with that made sense to him.

To his mind, it was a stupid tradition that didn't really make sense at all, Sirius had even agreed with him on that point, but it was a tradition that Amelia, and apparently Julia, seemed to want to follow. So he was happy to do it since it didn't really cost him anything to make Amelia happy with it.

Basically it was the pure-blood way of announcing they were in a serious relationship together, then an engagement would follow that at some point, then a wedding. It was ridiculous, convoluted, unnecessarily complicated, and didn't make sense to anyone with more active brain cells than a deceased rat... Just like practically everything else in the magical world as far as he was concerned.

Walking through Hogwarts now was leaving him with a rather strange feeling now that the nostalgia had worn off. It was bordering on disturbing as he walked through the corridors, catching sight of people like Lavender Brown who had been disfigured by Greyback in Voldemort's final battle, Fred Weasley and the fifty or so others that had been killed by the Death Eaters in that final attack on the castle.

It was like he was living in a castle full of ghosts, and not the ghosts that he was normally used to.

Then he would catch sight of someone like Draco Malfoy or Theodore Nott, and remember everything that they'd done over the years. After all, it would only be in around five years time that Malfoy would betray Hogwarts at it's worst and let the Death Eaters into the castle in the attempt to take over.

It was strange looking at the arrogant little shit, thinking of everyone that had been hurt and killed by his actions, and wondering if just a simple severing curse to the neck would save so many lives.

Thinking about everything Lucius Malfoy had said, maybe he should be convincing him to take Draco out of the school and send him to Durmstrang, maybe even move the entire damned family over there. It would save god knows how many lives, improve hundreds of others lives, and leave them without having to deal with Draco's bullying or bigotry, and probably save him from having to kill the little blonde shit himself.

"Ah, just on time."

James looked up from where he'd been deep in rather dark and disturbing thoughts as he'd been walking and realised that he'd arrived at Minerva's transfiguration classroom, and he'd opened the door to walk in without even realising it.

"Professor Potter has graciously agreed to join us for the second half of this afternoon's lesson, one that normally I would have to focus on from my own perspective. Thankfully however, today you will have the pleasure of hearing about the Animagus transformation both from mine, and from Professor Potter's perspective."

James nodded at that, idly noting it was a Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh year class that he'd been invited to join as he closed the classroom door quietly and made his way down to the front of the class to join Minerva at the front.

"Now, every year there will be a handful of students that elect to attempt the Animagus transformation over the year as part of their NEWT coursework." Professor McGonagall explained, looking around the class to make sure everyone was paying attention. "I say attempt, as maybe less than a quarter of those who attempt to include it as part of their NEWT class actually successfully manage it, though, to clarify, not all who fail in their attempt do so due to faults of their own."

Minerva's introduction had James' attention immediately. He hadn't returned to Hogwarts for his seventh year properly like Hermione had done, so this was entirely new information for him. He'd always just assumed that stuff like Animagus transformations weren't taught in Hogwarts and it was something people just did after they'd finished school.

Looking around the class, James could easily spot the few in the class that were going to try and become Animagus' over the year, they were the ones that were hastily scribbling down everything Minerva was saying and eagerly following every word. It was surprising that more Gryffindors seemed interested than Slytherins, he'd have to actually as Minerva why that was when he got a second, just in case it was something interesting that separated the two groups of students.

"Now, as I said, those who attempt the Animagus transformation over the year do not fail, most of them anyway, through faults of their own, but by the complexity and timing of the components that make up the transformation." Minerva explained, gesturing to the chalkboard at the back of the room with her wand as she continued. "The Animagus transformation is made of three parts, potion, ritual, and practised self-transfiguration." She explained, making sure the chalk board was writing all of this down as she went along. "The potion itself is highly complicated, I would strongly recommend caution for any of you thinking of attempting this without NEWT potions experience, the potion itself takes well over a month to create, and can take up to six months in some cases." She explained, watching as a few of the students in the class looked at her in horror at that piece of news.

"Mine took nearly eight months before it was ready." James admitted, drawing the class's attention over to him.

"I remember taking at least five months over mine," Minerva explained with a curt nod to James. "The reason this potion takes so long, is a combination of factors, leading to the final night of the potion, and the timing of the first Animagus transformation, occurring on the night of a natural thunderstorm. The thunderstorm must occur within sight of where you have stored the potion, moving the potion around in an attempt to locate a storm disturbs the ingredients and renders it inert." She explained, spotting a few students who had already thought of trying that way of working around it. "If you miss the thunderstorm, or have incorrectly brewed the potion, disturbed it in any way, or made any mistakes in the ritual to that point, you will have to start again, from the beginning."

"And that's back to the first step of keeping a mandrake leaf in your mouth for an entire lunar month, it's not nice." James grinned, shaking his head with a face of disgust when the class looked at him. "No, seriously, those things taste bloody horrible."

"Quite," Minerva said dryly, favouring James with a small quirk of her lips.

"Professor, is that why only a few people ever try it?" One of the Gryffindor students asked, raising their hand and speaking up when Minerva nodded to her.

"Perhaps," Minerva admitted. "It is a long and arduous process, a process which many feel they are unable or unwilling to commit to for the possibility of a minor benefit the Animagus form allows. There are others that do not like to put so much time and effort into magic, where the final steps are left up to nature and chance, removing control entirely from their grasp." She explained with a small nod. "I have found that many witches and wizards are not comfortable letting things out of their control for whatever reasons they have, allowing something else like a thunderstorm to dictate the time table and where you must stay for the duration of the ritual, is something many are not entirely happy with."

"It's the early mornings really," James interrupted with a small smirk as he looked over at the Gryffindor girl in question. "Six months of waking up before dawn so you're ready to do the incantations as the sun rises?" He explained with a grimace. "Imagine doing that for months, only to find out you cocked up the potion and have to start all over again?" He explained with a look of horror on his face.

"Yes," Minerva nodded, frowning over at James with tight lips over his language. "Another reason is perhaps the fact that many witches and wizards do not wish to confront the traits that the Animagus transformation reveals to them. Once revealed, it is not something you can simply put back in a box and deny, there are Animagus' out there who hide their ability purely out of shame due to what the animal in question says about their true nature."

"True nature?" One of the Slytherins asked, not even bothering with the common courtesy of raising their hand.

"The animal revealed in the Animagus transformation is based on your innermost traits, if reveals the core of your personality, the real you so to speak. I imagine many of you would not be comfortable revealing such hidden depths to your acquaintances, let alone to perfect strangers who could understand what that animal says about you."

"I knew someone who turned into a rat," James admitted, drawing attention over to him again. "Should have told you everything you'd need to know about them right?" He explained with a shrug, seriously not knowing how his dad, Sirius and Remus hadn't figured out Pettigrew was a traitor from that. "Peter Pettigrew." He said aloud when he saw the questioning look on Minerva's face, drawing gasps of shock from around the room from the people who recognised the name from Sirius Black's trial.

"Might I assume that Mr Black is also a successful Animagus then?" Minerva asked with a wry smile at acquiring this piece of knowledge.

"A big black dog. Loyal, playful, likes to lick himself." James explained with a grin. "Might be why you two don't get along, you know, cats and dogs?" He explained with a snort of laughter when Minerva rolled her eyes while the class laughed at his comment.

"Indeed," Minerva commented, shaking her head in amusement that three of her students had apparently mastered such a difficult aspect of Transfiguration without her knowing about it. "Perhaps, if you would be so kind Professor Potter?" She asked, gesturing for him to transform so the class could see what they were talking about.

James shrugged at that, stepping away from Minerva's desk and shimmering with golden fur for a second before his form blurred and shifted down into the large lion that was left standing in front of Minerva, causing more than a few gasps to emerge from the students around the room.

"As you can all see, and I'm sure many of you already knew, Professor Potter's Animagus form is that of a lion. Panthera Leo for those of you that would like the filidae classification for further research." Minerva explained, walking around to stand next to the rather large lion that was now taking centre stage in her classroom. "Now, if you look closely, there are unique traits that carry over from the wizard or witch to their animal form. In the case of Professor Potter, we see his rather distinctive messy black hair as part of the mane, along with several scars underneath the short fur that I can only assume Professor Potter has in his natural form." She explained dryly, frowning as she wondered how her favourite student had managed to get scarred like that. "I had actually expected to see brown eyes, as the eyes of an Animagus very often retain the same colour and human intelligence of the witch or wizard, though in this case, you can see that Professor Potter's lion's eyes are actually an emerald green instead of his natural brown. Quite distinctive in their own right, and rather surprising I will admit." She explained with a thoughtful frown as she looked around the room, ignoring the wince and huff the lion made during her explanation.

"Now, what does this animal say about Professor Potter's personality?" Minerva asked, looking around the room.

"He's an apex predator! And powerful!" One of the Gryffindor students said loudly.

"Certainly." Minerva nodded in agreement. "I'm sure everyone who witnessed his duel against You-Know-Who to protect the school would agree with that?" She asked rhetorically. "Most certainly a born leader."

"He's a Gryffindor," One of the Slytherins said, drawing laughter from around the room and a loud roar of agreement from the lion in question.

"Not precisely what I was expecting, but yes, Professor Potter was a proud Gryffindor for seven years and embodied many of the traits of our fine house." Minerva explained with a wry smile as she thought about it.

"Lions are pack creatures, I mean, they're social animals, not loners like other big cats." A Gryffindor boy announced.

"Quite correct," Minerva nodded over. "Lions are social animals. They create packs of their own choosing, families if you will, bonds that last throughout their lives. Very often lions will create packs of their own, with other lions joining them through their lives, forming bonds of protection and loyalty with each other, to protect the pride as a whole, and help the weaker members in the pride survive."

"So Professor Potter would be as protective as a lion is as well then?" One of the Gryffindors asked.

"Of his friends, his pride shall we say, indeed. Fiercely so I would say. And as a Professor that taught him for seven years, I can attest to this attribute personally." Minerva explained with a small smile down at the lion. "If I were to sum up these traits then, I would say Professor Potter's protective nature, alongside his pack or pride nature as it were, with his predator instincts, are shown rather well in this form." She explained, making sure the class knew what she meant now by these traits being visible in the animal form of the wizard.

"Very well, thank you Professor Potter, you may return to your natural shape now." She said, stepping back to give James some space as he yawned loudly before blurring and standing upright again and rolling his shoulders. "As I'm sure you can all appreciate, Professor Potter's Animagus form is rather more distinctive than my own, having him here gives me the unique opportunity to discuss the differing traits of an Animagus without having to transform myself."

"Big cat," James said with a grin, indicating to himself. "Little cat." He said, pointing to Minerva and causing a small burst of laughter from the students. "Jokes aside, as fancy as the lion is, it's a pretty useless Animagus form for anything other than intimidation or physical combat if I'm without my wand." He admitted with a grimace. "Professor McGonagall's house-cat form is much more subtle, she can go unnoticed around practically anywhere in the world, even wandering Hogwarts corridors, and you wouldn't give a cat a second thought." He explained, noting how quite a few of the Slytherins in the class were surprised they hadn't thought of that before. "Unfortunately for me, a lion stands out a bit, whether it wants to or not, drawing all sorts of attention I'd rather avoid if I could get away with it."

"Indeed," Minerva gave a nod of acknowledgement to James for that. "I can assume then that a lion was not your expected form then?" She asked curiously.

"I was actually hoping for an owl, maybe another bird like a kestrel or a hawk, something like that." James admitted with a wry smile.

"A bird?" One of the Gryffindors asked, his incredulous voice showing the surprise that was visible on many of the Gryffindors faces at being told that someone would chose another animal over a lion if they could.

"Definitely," James admitted, leaning back on Minerva's desk and ignoring the frown and curious glance she sent his way. "Being able to fly whenever you want, free and under your own power? You could escape from anything up there, just being able to be yourself, no expectations, no responsibilities, just being able to fly and be true to yourself."

He could see more than a few of the students were contemplating that as he spoke and could easily spot the Quidditch players in the classroom nodding along as he spoke about flying.

"I really did hope to be an owl actually, just a common barn owl. Nothing special, just an everyday owl that could blend in and never be noticed." He explained with a smile. "That would have been nice." He said with a small smile, missing the curious look Minerva gave him as he got lost in thought about it.

"Well, now that you are all familiar with the process and pitfalls of the Animagus transformation, and how long the process can be. I expect to see anyone wishing to partake in the transformation as part of their NEWT year to have a secondary project as well that they can submit in the all too often case that timing and weather aside, the transformation is unsuccessful." Minerva explained, drawing groans from a few students around the room.

"Those of you that are intent on pursuing the Animagus transformation and feel that they can keep up with the work involved, may come to see me over this week in my office to discuss the further details involved." Minerva paused, looking around the room. "Let me be clear here. Pursuing an Animagus transformation is very risky, over many many years of teaching I have seen students stuck in half transformed states, with tails and paws that had to be removed by a long stay in St Mungo's. This is not a subject to enter into half heartedly or jokingly, any misstep can have serious and dangerous consequences. Is that understood?" She demanded, looking around the room to make sure everyone was taking her seriously.

"She's not kidding," James piped up again from his resting seat against Minerva's desk. "There's an animagus around that's a water beetle, seriously, you want to be stuck for the rest of your life as a beetle or a bug of some sort, maybe a mouse? With the amount of cats as familiars in the castle, you'd vanish into one of their stomachs and it'd just be another missing persons case that the Aurors would never solve." He explained, noting a few disturbed looks on the students around the room. "If you're going to do it, stick with a master like Professor McGonagall, that way if you do end up with a poodle's tail, an elephants nose, or a snake's tongue, she can help you fix it before anyone else sees it." He explained with a laugh, seeing some relieved faces on students thanking him for lightening the mood.

"I'm sure Professor Potter will also happily answer any questions you have for him regarding the process if at any point I am unavailable." Minerva explained. "With that said, we shall start discussing the transformation steps and the three main areas, starting with the potion." She explained, flicking her wand to the blackboard where 'potion, ritual, and self-transfiguration' were still written and ready to be discussed. "As Professor Potter mentioned earlier, the first step in the transformation requires a desiccated mandrake leaf..."

* * *

**Defence Office **

**Hogwarts **

It was later that evening, as James was lazily going over one of the first year curriculum books, when he heard the floo flare up from the other room.

"James?"

"Through here, come on through." He called out in reply, recognising Amelia's voice instantly and not bothering to move from where he was casually leaning back in his chair with his feet up on his desk as he read through the seventh year curriculum he was now expected to teach for their last NEWT year.

It only took a few moments for the floo to flare again before Amelia came through from the living area and into the office, practically collapsing into one of the spare chairs the moment she saw it.

"Bad day?" James asked, raising an eyebrow as he closed the curriculum book and idly tossed it on his desk next to his boots with a thump.

"You have no idea." Amelia groused, pulling her hand down her face in a tired and worn expression of frustration. "We brought in the loyalty contracts today, the entire Ministry had to sign them. Every floor, every member of The Ministry."

"Owch, even I'd need a drink after a day like that." James grimaced, not even wanting to contemplate how much work that would be.

"Ninety seven resignations." Amelia explained bluntly. "Ninety seven. The Minister hit the roof when he heard about it." She groused with a wince at how bad things at The Ministry really were. "It's a fifty fifty toss up how many of them were actually Death Eaters or simply pure blood bigots though, but either way..." She trailed off with a frustrated sigh.

"I'd say I'm surprised but..." James trailed off with a shrug, knowing full well how many blood bigots and idiots there were at The Ministry. "Shacklebolt? Dawlish?"

"Both resigned, along with Hestia Jones from my department and Sturgis Podmore from legal." Amelia admitted, glancing at James to see what he knew. "Dawlish and twelve more Aurors were fired after refusing to sign the contracts. I checked their records afterwards, pure blood bigots, every last one of them."

"I knew Hestia Jones was one of Dumbledore's little sycophants, Sturgis Podmore rings a bell but it's not a name that jumps out at me." James admitted. "Honestly I'm not surprised they resigned though, Dumbledore's probably got something on them. They all know that he'd rather keep them in his pocket than let them have their own lives. Fodder for his little army. Resigning was the only option they really had."

"They both claimed to be working for Dumbledore." Amelia confirmed, nodding along with James' musings.

"Probably where I know the name from then, he was another one of Dumbledore's lackeys spying on The Ministry and passing stories back to him." James explained with a shrug. "I didn't know Hestia was working for you though, I'd have warned you otherwise. I knew she was in with Dumbledore but she was actually a decent person from what I remember of her, but he always did manage to sucker in decent people into doing his dirty work for him." He explained with a sigh before smirking and chuckling to himself.

"What?" Amelia frowned, looking over with a half-hearted glare. This wasn't anything to laugh about as far as she was concerned, and she couldn't see anything funny about what she'd just told him.

"Nothing," James smirked, waving the thought away. "It's just... in my fifth year, Minister Fudge was so hell bent on believing Dumbledore was trying to take over The Ministry and kept saying that Dumbledore had spies and infiltrators everywhere." He explained with a grin. "We didn't believe him back then, but then The Ministry was just as bad as Voldemort was by that point with their propaganda, trying to paint me and Dumbledore as the bad guys trying to take over." He said with a shrug. "It just made me laugh to realise that Fudge had actually been right all along, Dumbledore HAD been infiltrating The Ministry, he must have found out about some of his spies somehow." He explained with a chuckle as he leaned back in his chair, grinning thoughtfully at the fact that Fudge actually had been right about something all along.

"I would assume so," Amelia mused thoughtfully. "Dolores Umbridge was another name you'd like to hear was fired I assume?"

"Do tell?" James grinned over eagerly.

"She refused to sign the contract but expected to keep her position regardless." Amelia explained with a small smile. "My Aurors escorted her out of The Ministry just before lunch. I won't lie to you, watching her being physically removed from The Ministry was quite the sight. I don't think my Aurors have received that much applause for doing their jobs in all my years at The Ministry." She explained with a wry laugh.

"Probably not," James chuckled in agreement. "Wish I'd been there, that would have been a patronus worthy memory." He explained with a grin. "Anyone else?"

"Malfilda Hopkirk from the Improper Use of Magic Offices?" Amelia asked.

"Pure blood bigot, she ended up working for the Muggle-Born Registration Commission under Umbridge." James clarified. "Did it happily, didn't even complain about what she was doing. She's been sending out threats and expulsion notices to muggle-borns and half bloods for years now, happily knowing they couldn't trace pure bloods who were doing exactly the same thing." He explained. "Good riddance, I'd have booted her arse out the door myself if I'd been there."

"Ah," Amelia nodded. "She refused to sign the contract, but left on her own without being fired." She explained, wondering if Hopkirk had been the same woman that had caused James problems with his under age magic notifications in his youth.

James just shrugged at that, having expected the witch to have been fired like Umbridge anyway. It didn't particularly make a difference to him either way, she was hardly a major player in the things that were coming.

"Thirty four were arrested, refusing to sign and then being found to believe in Pure Blood Supremacy and demanding to keep their jobs as their right as a pure bloods." Amelia explained with a grimace at just how deep the pure blood bigotry of the Death Eaters had managed to infect The Ministry. "Eleven of those were from the floo regulations department, including the Department Head Duncan McLaggen."

"That's no surprise," James snorted, shaking his head at that. "McLaggen, I know that name." He mused aloud. "Cormac McLaggen's dad?" He asked, looking to Amelia who just shrugged to say she didn't know either way. "Anyway, it's pretty obvious he was a Pure Blood sycophant whoever he was, and if he's the McLaggen I'm thinking of, I'm not surprised in the least." He muttered when Amelia looked at him with a curious glance. "Every time Voldemort attacks somewhere, the floo is just mysteriously down or blocked somehow to prevent people from escaping? He uses anti-apparition jinxes to stop people from apparating away, but he'd need Death Eaters in the floo department to stop it there as well."

"I hadn't... I hadn't actually realised that." Amelia frowned, grimacing when she realised how blatantly obvious it was.

"They're all gone now then?" James asked curiously.

"There'll be a story in The Prophet tomorrow about it, the details of the new contract, along with the news about a hiring surge at The Ministry." Amelia admitted with a nod. "I'll be heading over to the academy tomorrow to see how many recruits are ready for active service, and authorise another two dozen places at the academy to replace the Aurors I've lost."

"That'll help," James nodded, hoping that there was actually enough decent Aurors to fill the ranks now.

"Dirk Cresswell has been promoted up to Senior Undersecretary. I'll be taking him down to the Daily Prophet tomorrow for an interview, we'll be talking about the new Ministry hard line against blood bigotry there." Amelia explained.

"Cresswell?" James paused, rubbing his stubble thoughtfully as he pondered over the name. "The name rings a bell somewhere..." He muttered to himself, dredging through his memories.

"Muggle-born, one of the very few at The Ministry. He was working in the Goblin Liaison Office. Not surprisingly, his boss was one of the bigots without a mark that refused to sign the new contract. He was offered head of department as well, but I managed to convince him to take on the Senior Undersecretary position instead." Amelia said with a smile. "I'm hoping he can help me get somewhere with the goblins, maybe even broker a deal to get us into Lestrange's vault."

"A muggle-born Senior Undersecretary?" James asked in surprise. "That's new." He mused aloud, knowing full well that in his previous time that no muggle-born would ever have been promoted that high at The Ministry. "I'm sure I know that name from somewhere." He muttered thoughtfully.

"You can check through your pensieve when you get chance." Amelia nodded. "He signed the new contract happily enough, so I know he's not hiding any allegiance to either Voldemort or Dumbledore."

"It'll come to me, it's just bugging me that I know the name but can't place it." James admitted with a frown.

"It's going to be a hectic week, I hope you don't mind me floo'ing in here now and again to get away from it all?" Amelia asked.

"You're welcome any time you want," James shrugged with a smile over to her. "If I'm not here, help yourself to anything you need. The piece and quiet here is actually a nice break away from the rest of the castle."

"And away from Sirius," Amelia admitted with a laugh, drawing a grin of agreement from James as well. "Speaking of the old dog, have you spoken to him much?"

"Over the weekend," James admitted. "He's still angry about Remus, I can't really blame him for that." He explained with a thoughtful tilt of his head. "He went back to Grimmauld Place apparently, started destroying the place with blasting curses and god knows what else."

"He's got anger issues still, after being kept in Azkaban for so long I'd expected as much." Amelia sighed.

"Yeah," James nodded back. "Between Azkaban, learning about Dumbledore, and then all this with Remus, I can't really blame him for needing to get some anger out like that."

"I suppose not," Amelia frowned thoughtfully. "It might be worth speaking to him about seeing a mind healer, it would certainly help him come to terms with everything that's happened."

"I was actually thinking the same," James admitted. "I saw one for a few months after... well, after." He shrugged. "I'll mention it to him the next time I see him."

"I'll stay out of his hair then, though I was thinking about offering him a return place in the department." Amelia said thoughtfully. "With Shacklebolt gone, I could use someone of his calibre to back me up out there."

"Probably not a good idea at the moment," James sighed, ruffling his hair in annoyance. "Wait until he's settled down, if he's still interested then, then..." He trailed off with a shrug.

"Very well," Amelia sighed, slumping down a bit in her chair. "I don't suppose Minerva would mind if I spent the night here?" She asked with a small smirk up at James.

"Well, I wouldn't recommend the chair," James grinned back. "But there's a great bed through there that's even more comfortable than anything I remember."

"I shall just have to put up with the Gryffindor trappings," Amelia joked over with a smirk. "Maybe spruce the place up a little, some yellow to match the gold, tone down some of these scarlets?"

"Don't you dare," James laughed, swinging his legs off of his desk and moving over to her, offering her his arms to help her up out of the comfortable chair she'd sunk into. "As for Minerva, I won't tell her if you don't." He said with a grin as he flicked his wand over to the office door, locking it securely before happily escorting Amelia through to the bedroom area of the living suite where they could relax.

* * *

**Wed 11th of September**

**Hogwarts**

**Scotland **

It was just after dinner time at Hogwarts as James idly lent against the archway leading through into the school library.

He'd had a pretty busy day, not least because he'd had two NEWT year double periods to teach back to back, sixth years just before lunch, and then seventh years just after lunch.

The NEWT classes were basically going to be him starting from scratch, and he'd actually entertained the idea of tossing them both together so he could have a combined class for a four hour period instead.

Whoever had been their teacher the previous year had been so inept that it would have been laughable if it wasn't down to him now to get them all through their NEWTs. Which meant going over silent casting, again for the seventh years, and then onto point casting and the advanced magics.

The Patronus was high on his list of charms he was going to get both classes up to scratch on, that way if the worst did happen and the Dementors went to Voldemort again, there'd be at least a few dozen more wizards and witches around that could help deal with the problem.

He'd been frustrated enough that he'd taken his evening meal in his office tonight, thankful for the house elves that had brought up a healthy portion of steak and ale pie, mashed potatoes and gravy, along with a large helping of treacle tart for dessert.

Sitting at his office desk aimlessly while he tried to figure out exactly what he was trying to teach the kids was a nightmare, so his attention had wandered up to the Marauders Map on the wall where he'd idly spent ten minutes or so looking for Peter Pettigrew there.

While he hadn't found Pettigrew, he had noticed something in the library that had caught his attention, which had led to him venturing out from his office for a bit and coming down to watch the group in question with his own eyes.

Leaning against the library arch he raised a lone eyebrow over to Madame Pince when she looked at him before she returned to the book she was reading, obviously she had not been expecting to see another member of the faculty down in the library on an evening.

What had his attention was the small group nestled on a table over by the charms collection of books, where Harry, Hermione, Neville, Susan and Daphne were currently all sharing a table and chatting in hushed whispers while they worked.

It was amusing to watch, both heart warming and nostalgic at the same time. Seeing his younger self making friends like this was fantastic. He wasn't worried about fitting in or being the weird kid like he'd been in his first week at Hogwarts.

Neville seemed to have slotted into the group just fine as well, while he was sat on one side of the table with Harry, the three girls were on the other side of the table and appeared to be chatting happily as well. Indicating that introducing Hermione to the group as well had been successful and she wouldn't be the aloof and alone girl in her first year that 'his' Hermione had been before he and Ron had made friends with her.

It was weird knowing that through their first year at Hogwarts, Hermione must have suffered through her twelfth birthday alone. With no friends in Gryffindor to be with her or celebrate with, and away from her parents, she must have just ignored the day altogether. He knew Hermione didn't even have an owl, so she wouldn't have even had a letter or present from her parents on her birthday.

Frowning at that point, James quickly calculated the dates in his head. Hermione's birthday was on the nineteenth, which would be next Thursday. That didn't leave him much time at all to figure out a present for her and make her first birthday at Hogwarts something special.

He was broken out of his musings as Madame Pince hushed loudly, glaring over at the table of five after Susan had giggled at something a bit too loudly.

Quickly patting himself down he grabbed a scrap of parchment from his pocket before idly walking over to the group of five, noticing that Daphne was the first one to spot his approach and notify the other four that he was here.

Holding his finger to his lips he sat down at the desk next to his younger self, taking his quill from him for a second with a wink before writing out "Muffliato" on the parchment he'd found. "Muff-LEE-ah-toe" he pronounced quietly, making sure Harry was paying attention and noticing that Hermione was watching with an excited look on her face. "Point at the desk, no wand movements."

"What's it do?" Harry asked, looking up at his older self as Hermione took the parchment and read the incantation aloud to herself to memorise it.

"Muffles the sound around you for about ten feet from the area you point at, so nobody can listen in on your conversations. Pretty handy for quiet talking in the library don't you think?" James asked with a grin over to Hermione as he brought his wand out, flicked it towards the desk and smiled in satisfaction when the aqua blue light shot out from his wand. "It'll last about two hours. Enjoy." He said with a grin as he pushed his chair back, standing up with a wink to his younger self before he made his way out of the library, happily ignoring the glare Madame Pince gave him as he walked away from the group.

"Does it work?" Hermione asked in a whisper as she watched Professor Potter walk away.

"Don't know?" Harry replied, bringing his voice up to normal speaking levels. "Hello? Madame Pince?" He asked aloud, watching as Madame Pince paid absolutely no attention to their table whatsoever.

"I'd say so." Neville said with a small laugh.

"Almost certainly," Daphne nodded in agreement when she noticed Madame Pince wasn't even glancing in their direction no matter how much they talked. "Definitely a useful charm to learn." She admitted, leaning over to look at the parchment Hermione still had, copying down the charm name and pronunciation from where Professor Potter had written in down so she could practice it herself.

"Definitely handy," Susan confirmed, copying Daphne and making a note of it herself.

"It's not one of the ones in the charms book, not for first years anyway." Hermione frowned, glaring down at the parchment in question. "I've read the first year books already, I don't remember seeing this one in there anywhere." She said accusingly, looking down at the parchment in front of her.

"Could be one of his own charms," Daphne pointed out thoughtfully.

"Probably," Neville nodded in agreement. "Merlin knows what sort of spells your dad must know." He said with a grin over to Harry.

"It could be one from the upper years," Susan commented with a thoughtful glance down at where she'd written down the charm.

"He did already start teaching you and Harry second and third year spells." Daphne nodded with a bit of a jealous expression on her face.

"WHAT?" Hermione practically screeched at that revelation, causing all four at the table to duck back to their books in panic, waiting for Madame Pince to start shouting at them for Hermione's raised voice.

After a few seconds, Harry was the first one brave enough to look up from his book and over to Madame Pince, who was still happily reading and showing no indication that she'd heard Hermione's shout at all.

"Wow, must be a really powerful charm to silence that shout." Harry muttered with a grin over at Hermione's flushed and embarrassed face.

"Practice casting it, that way we can all use it when we're studying." Daphne pointed out, doing her best not to laugh at Hermione's flushed red face.

"What do you mean that you're already being taught third year spells?" Hermione demanded in a whisper over to Harry.

"My dad started teaching us this stuff already," Harry pointed out. "There's no rules against studying ahead of what you know right?"

"But... but, you're supposed to learn along with the classes, that's what the professors would want?" Hermione frowned over.

"The professors expect you to learn on your own as well," Daphne pointed out. "That's why we have the books of our own and not just have them in class, to read and practice ahead at our own speeds, not just learn in class and practice afterwards."

"You... you've really been learning third year spells already?" Hermione whispered, a touch of awe in her face as she looked at Harry.

"Me too," Susan interrupted with a bashful smile.

"Can... would you... um... I'd really like it if..." Hermione stammered out.

"They're already teaching me," Daphne nodded, stepping in to give the poor girl a break. "Harry says they got upto Glacius already."

"Whoa," Neville breathed out, looking at Harry in awe.

"We should find an abandoned classroom somewhere, then Harry and Susan could teach us without everyone else butting in and wanting to join in." Daphne mused thoughtfully.

"Can... um, do you mind..."

"Of course Neville," Harry grinned, happy to help Neville any way he could. "You're coming no matter what, I need another boy there otherwise I'd be outnumbered."

"You're still outnumbered." Daphne pointed out with a wry smile of her own, indicating that there were three girls and only two boys in their group.

"Oh," Harry frowned, realising that Daphne was right. "Do you think it'd be easy to find an abandoned classroom?"

"Definitely, there's loads of them that aren't used anymore." Daphne nodded back. "Come on, we can find one now and get started." She said with a grin, closing her charms book and sliding it back into her bag.

"Alright," Harry shrugged, happy to go with the flow and help out his friends with things his older self had taught him if they needed it.

Having friends and 'almost family' was still a pretty new experience for Harry, but it was an experience that he was thoroughly enjoying so far.

* * *

Outside of the Hogwarts Library, James was happily grinning to himself as he wandered the corridor and headed outside onto the grounds, his hands thrust in his jeans pockets as he walked, idly amused at how he'd taught Hermione Muffliato when she'd been so vehemently against using the spell originally in his time at Hogwarts.

It was a little thing and a petty thing, but it made him laugh when he remembered getting slapped on the arm by Hermione for even mentioning the spell in their sixth year at Hogwarts. Compared to her eager and excited face when he'd written down the spell just now, it was definitely something to laugh at in his book.

With everything else that was going on, with Dumbledore and Voldemort, Sirius and Remus, he was going to take his little amusements where he could get them.

"Profess'r,"

James looked up with an incredulous expression at the mixture of the voice and the words spoken. He'd never imagined Hagrid calling him 'Professor', not in a million years. It didn't sound right at all, and Hagrid's nervous voice made the forced title sound even worse.

"Hagrid?" James asked, looking down the path towards Hagrid's hut where Hagrid was waiting outside before heading off in that direction. "Hagrid, why did you call me Professor?"

"'T's yer title ain't it?" Hagrid answered a bit shiftily as James came and stood in front of him.

"Never to you," James shook his head with a chuckle. "What's wrong Hagrid?" He asked, knowing the half-giant all too well after all these years. "Come on, I can see you're worried about something."

"Aye, nev'r could 'ide anythin' from ye," Hagrid admitted with a sigh. "Been tryin' to think of 'ow to say I'm sorry. Ye know, for... for what I did... with... with young Harry."

"Ha..." James started to ask, cocking his head to the side curiously as he tried to figure out what Hagrid meant before the realisation slammed into him like a bludger.

"'Eard all about it after your barny with Professor Dumbledore and You-Know-Who, Professor McGonagall, she tol' me all about it aft'rwards, explained wha' 'ad happened." Hagrid explained.

"Hagrid, I don't blame you, not for any of it." James said firmly.

"But... but I stole 'Arry from you!" Hagrid exclaimed, the tears falling from his dark eyes freely as he made his confession. "If it weren't for me followin' Profess'r Dumbledore, then Harry would have been with Sirius Black just like he was s'posed to be."

"Hagrid," James said firmly, causing Hagrid to look down at him in surprise. "I don't blame you. I'm not mad at you. Not for that, not for anything." He explained, making sure he was smiling up at the half-giant. "It wasn't your fault." He said firmly, making sure that Hagrid was listening to him. "None of it was. I don't blame you any more than I blame Minerva."

"But... but ye..." Hagrid stammered out, wiping his nose on a handkerchief that could have doubled as a flag in some places.

"Hagrid, really, no one blames you for any of it." James said reassuringly, reaching over and holding Hagrid's arm reassuringly. "Is that why I haven't seen you the last week, you've been avoiding me?"

"I thought... I reckoned you'd be mad at me aft'r..." Hagrid started, but trailed off and simply pulled James tight into a bone crushing hug. "You really don' blame me?"

"Not... at... all..." James huffed out, trying to speak and keep his lungs full at the same time as Hagrid practically crushed his face into his bushy and wiry beard. "Neither... does Minerva... or... Sirius."

"Oh Sirius Black, I'd... I reckon I'd forgotten all about that." Hagrid said quickly, releasing James and spinning around to walk around the side of his hut.

"Forgotten about what?" James asked, catching his breath back after Hagrid released him. "What are you doing?" He asked, watching as Hagrid carried out a rather large and oddly wrapped present in his arms.

It wasn't until Hagrid was in front of him that he realised it wasn't a wrapped present at all, but an old and stitched together fabric cover that was wrapped over something.

"Sirius Black lent this to me that... the night I took 'Arry." Hagrid admitted, pulling off the fabric to expose the motorbike underneath. "Reckon it's only right I give it back. Think yeh could find 'im and pass it on from me?"

"Of course," James breathed out, staring down at the oh so familiar nineteen fifty nine Triumph Bonneville bike. "You've taken great care of her." He admitted, looking over the polished bike and cleaned leather seats.

If he was honest, the bike was looking better now than he ever remembered it looking in his life.

In his time, after the war and while he's still been dating Ginny, fixing up the motorbike had been a guilty pleasure of his. He'd spent hours on the weekend's with Arthur in the old Weasley shed as they muddled through books and slowly brought the bike back to working condition.

It was never the same afterwards though, it'd worked as a motorbike and it flew, but it was never as stable and solid as it had been for Sirius or Hagrid.

"Ye... ye'll take it back to 'im then?" Hagrid asked hopefully.

"Of course," James grinned up. "I'd completely forgotten about this old thing." He said with a laugh as he ran his fingers over the leather seat. "I'm sure he'll be thankful you kept it looking so good after all these years."

"T'was the least I could do, aft'r... ye know." Hagrid shrugged awkwardly, bundling the fabric up in his hands. "I'd been... I mean, before I knew about ye, I was putting some old photos together for young Harry."

"I think he'd like that Hagrid," James grinned up, thinking of the photo album Hagrid had giving him of his parents when he was in his first year at Hogwarts. "I think he'd like that a lot." He said with a firm nod.

"Ye really think so?" Hagrid boomed, beaming down at James.

"I really do," James nodded up. "I'm sure you've got plenty of stories to tell him of what his... we got up to back in out Hogwarts days." He said quickly to cover up his slip.

"Aye, reckon I do at that," Hagrid laughed loudly at that thought. "Al'right, I'll finish it up and get 'im to come down for a spot of tea or somethin'."

"Perfect," James grinned over. "Actually, you'll know... unicorn herds? Are there any others around? Aside from in the forest?"

"Not 'round 'ere," Hagrid shook his head thoughtfully. "Big 'erd over in wales though, biggest one in the country. Find 'em more over in Europe right? South'o France, Italy an' Greece. They prefer the warmer weather ya know?"

"Albania?" James asked curiously as he idly climbed on the motorbike and used it as a comfortable seat.

"Aye, down that way'd be right for 'em, Bulgaria's got a big 'erd too, anyw'ere down there's where you'd find 'em." Hagrid nodded over.

"Thanks, might be worth keeping an eye on the heard in Wales," James mused thoughtfully, idly wondering where Voldemort would target now that he'd removed him from Hogwarts. "Now, I was going to stay here tonight, but..." He trailed off, stroking the handlebars of the bike happily. "I think I should take this back to Sirius, don't you?"

"I reckon he'd like that." Hagrid laughed back, his booming laugh echoing around the Hogwarts grounds as James pointed his wand to the ignition and started the engine with a roar that rattled the trees of the Forbidden Forest closest to Hagrid's hut. "Blimey James, never knew you knew how to ride this thing?"

"Better than a Hippogriff," James laughed as he revved the engine, oblivious to Hagrid's returning laugh. "I'll tell Sirius to stop by and say thanks some time." He explained in a loud voice.

"I'd... I reckon I'd like that." Hagrid shouted back.

Giving Hagrid one last nod and a cheeky grin, James revved the engine loudly one last time before accelerating at speed, loudly driving down the Hogwarts grounds with a whoop of joy as he flipped on the thrusters before the bike blasted into the skies over the Forbidden Forest, leaving a trail of fire on the grass behind it while James' laughter echoed behind him as he flew off south towards Potter Manor.


	22. Chapter 22

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**12th September**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

By mid afternoon, James was more than thankful to have a break for the rest of the day now. It was just after three as his fifth year class filed out of the room, leaving him with a thankful sigh as he leaned back on his desk and tossed down the book he'd assigned homework from.

"A hard lesson then?"

"Just a long week," James admitted, looking up to see Andromeda Tonks standing in the doorway along with Minerva. "What brings you two up here then? Bit far from the potions dungeon?" He asked, hitching himself up so he could sit on his desk comfortably as the two older witches came into the classroom.

"Are you... aware of what's been going on with my daughter perhaps?" Andromeda asked curiously.

"Nymphadora?" James frowned over. "Nope, she alright?"

"Physically yes, though... She didn't get her spot in the Auror Academy." Andromeda explained, the relief in her voice almost palpable as she spoke.

"Huh," James frowned, wondering what he'd changed that could have caused that to happen. "I saw Amelia on Monday, she mentioned heading to the academy, but I haven't really spoken with her about Nymphadora at all." He explained with a shrug.

"She only found out yesterday, she came back home crying that she was going to have to give up her flat if she couldn't find a suitable job." Andromeda explained.

"Ahh crap," James groused, ruffling his hair. He hated it when women cried, it always left him feeling useless and unable to help or fix what had happened. It had never been anything he'd been particularly good at, but then, he wasn't really good with any emotions full stop.

"Indeed," Minerva frowned slightly at James' language. "However, Andromeda did think of a solution that might actually be beneficial to all of us."

"Ohhhkay?" James drawled out, narrowing his eyes as the feeling of being conned into something came back full force.

"Perhaps you'll remember, not a week ago, you left the school quite abruptly to deal with Fenrir Greyback, cancelling several afternoon classes in the process?" Minerva pointed out.

"Yeah, not my finest hour." James grimaced, scratching his stubble awkwardly.

"Perhaps not, but certainly an act neither of us could ever ask you to do differently." Minerva said, favouring him with a small smile. "I believe I agreed with your stipulations about You-Kn... Voldemort," She forced herself to say before continuing. "When I offered you this position."

"Alright," James nodded. "But what's that got to do with Nymphadora?"

"How would you feel about taking her on as an apprentice?" Andromeda asked curiously.

"Miss Tonks NEWT scores were rather impressive, both in Defence and Charms, with exceptional transfiguration skills." Minerva pointed out. "As an apprentice, she would be available to cover lessons for you when... other matters shall we say? Take precedence? And work as an assistant in the classroom when you are here."

"An assistant?" James raised his eyebrow at that, flicking between Minerva and Andromeda.

"I believe it would be good for her," Andromeda said with a thoughtful nod. "It would give her a steady job, a regular income to keep her flat, and some experience in the real world though in a somewhat safe environment."

James simply stared at them both for a moment as he contemplated what he actually knew about Tonks, pushing away the thoughts of how she'd kept him locked up at Privet Drive and Sirius locked up at Grimmauld Place. With Dumbledore out of the way, none of that was ever going to happen this time around anyway.

If he could forgive Hagrid for what had happened, then he certainly should have it in him to forgive Tonks, Remus and the others that had simply followed Dumbledore's lead for so many years. Especially now in this time when they hadn't actually done anything wrong yet.

"Alright," James said slowly with a small nod. "I'll have a meeting with her, sit down and chat and see what happens." He said thoughtfully. "Not saying yes or no until I meet with her, but we'll see." He said with a nod.

"Certainly," Minerva nodded at that, in full agreement with James wanting to meet the girl before committing to anything.

"I'll owl her now and arrange a time for her to come to the school." Andromeda said with a smile. "Oh, and I believe it was you I have to thank for sending the Weasley twins my way?"

"Oh Merlin," James muttered, dragging his hand down his face. "What did that pair of idiots do now?" He grimaced, looking up as Andromeda chuckled at his face.

"Surprisingly nothing," Andromeda explained. "Actually, they're both rather the prestigious brewers, fantastically inventive. I've had to curb their experiments a few times, but the two of them are more innovative potioneers than any I have seen in quite some time. I'm surprised Severus didn't take more notice of them given their skill with a cauldron."

"Figured as much," James muttered, seeing the shocked expression on Minerva's face. "They've been faking their exam scores and fudging their coursework. Making it look like they weren't doing as good as they really were." He explained with a shrug. "Potions, charms, transfiguration for sure, probably muggle studies too if they didn't wriggle out of taking it. I haven't looked at their work for last years defence stuff, but it wouldn't surprise me if they kept it up in their other classes as well, just to keep the scam going so people wouldn't question it."

"But... why on earth would they do such a thing?" Minerva demanded.

"Two words, Molly and Weasley." James explained with a frown. "If the twins got good marks, she'd try and force them to follow Percy's footsteps and start looking into Ministry jobs like he's aiming for, but the twins are more like Bill and Charlie, I actually reckon the two of them would have Ministry work as a boggart between them." He explained with a dry laugh. "Between them they came up with the idea that if they didn't get the scores needed for a Ministry job, then Molly would stop bothering them about it. She probably forced them to take it anyway, it's useless for them, I'll bet galleons to knuts that Molly decided their electives for them without even asking them what they wanted to do."

"That... they're ruining their future simply to avoid their mother's plans for them?" Minerva hissed out.

"They don't see it like that," James explained with a shrug. "Their plans are to get an investor, and open up a joke shop like Zonko's. Honestly, between them, I'd say they've got a great chance of actually pulling it off. Hell, I'd probably invest in it myself thinking about it, it'd be a gold mine with the sort of stuff those two dream up." He muttered, reminding himself that he needed to help the twins with their store this time around again, or see if Sirius wanted to. That was certainly an idea worth mentioning to him, and would help him get back into the world properly.

"I could certainly see something like that being a successful venture for them both." Andromeda nodded thoughtfully. "They've certainly got the brains, and the imagination to make something like that succeed."

"That's what I thought." James nodded in agreement.

"Are... are things with Mrs Weasley really that bad for the twins?" Minerva asked hesitantly.

"She's like that with all of them," James explained with a shrug. "Bill and Charlie got out as soon as they could, hell, they both left the country so they didn't have to put up with her trying to control their lives." He explained. "Percy's happily following his own path right to The Ministry's door, that's got her happy for now, then she's got the twins, and Ron, then Ginny."

"I wasn't aware you knew the Weasley's so well." Minerva frowned thoughtfully at James, considering what he was saying. "Ronald is..."

"Lazy?" James offered with a small smirk. "Ignorant?"

"Brash and belligerent?" Andromeda added in. "I've had him for three lessons now, he's knocked over his cauldron twice, spilt potion on himself a dozen or more times, and blamed everyone around him every single time instead of admitting to his own clumsy mistakes. So far he's failed to do the reading for every lesson, despite repeated reminders."

"I'd doubt if he's even cracked a book in one of my lessons," James admitted with a shrug. "I'm giving them as much practical in lessons as I can, then letting them read ahead in their own time. That way I can at least supervise them practising and help their casting. Reading ahead in lessons when they could be casting is a pointless waste of time."

"He is just in his first year, perhaps he will grow up and mature somewhat over time?" Minerva asked thoughtfully before sighing when both James and Andromeda gave her doubtful looks. "I'll have to admit, I do agree with you both on your thoughts of the young Mr Weasley." She admitted with a frown. "He's been late to my lessons several times already, and shows no sign of changing his ways. I will have Aurora keep an eye on him and speak to him if things don't change."

"Doubt they will." James explained with a sigh. "He's happy to coast through school, I'd bet if anyone tried to help him he'd actually manage to argue his way out of it instead of accepting the help. He'll do the bare minimum where he can, then try and get anyone around him to help him with his homework so he can just copy off of them."

"I'd agree with that," Andromeda nodded over to James, in full agreement with his assessment of Ronald Weasley. "Unless his attitude improves, I can certainly see him failing his first year and having to resit next year again."

"Another year of him?" James groaned, rubbing his stubble in annoyance. "Maybe he'll get his arse into gear by exams, six months, seven months? That should be enough time for him to figure out he needs to actually do something right?"

"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you," Andromeda said with a dry laugh.

"Yeah, I realised that just as I was saying it." James chuckled back. "Alright, whatever. Set things up with To... Nymphadora, just let me know when and where and I'll be there." He said, hopping forwards to slide off of his desk and walk around to grab his trench-coat.

"You are heading away from the castle for the rest of the day?" Minerva asked curiously as she watched James sliding into his signature coat.

"Yup," James grinned over, making sure that he had his wand and bag of galleons. "Need to find Sirius first and figure something out, then I'm off to sort out some birthday presents." He explained with a grin. "And stop in at The Ministry while I'm out, find out how their Auror recruitment is going now that they've weeded out all the Death Eaters and bigots from there."

"I read the article in The Prophet," Andromeda nodded thoughtfully. "Ted was talking about applying for one of the positions available."

"Tell him to go for it," James grinned over. "I know The Ministry haven't been... OK, they've been bigoted arseholes really for... well, pretty much forever." He explained with a shrug, ignoring Minerva's glare about his language. "But that's changed, apparently." He said with another shrug. "Amelia told me they ever promoted a muggle-born up to Senior Undersecretary. If that's not a sign of things changing, then I don't know what is." He explained with a grin.

"Certainly," Andromeda nodded, blinking in shock that she'd actually missed the fact that a muggle-born had been promoted so high in the ranks of their government. "I will certainly pass that along."

"What does he do? Ted I mean?" James asked, idly curious as Ted Tonks had died after they'd only met once in his time, they'd never really had a chance to talk or anything. It had always felt callous afterwards to talk about Ted with Andromeda, as he didn't want to reopen the wounds the war had left on everyone, he was a subject that he did his best to leave alone.

"He's a law wizard, a lawyer if you want to use a more muggle friendly term." Andromeda explained. "Of course, most legal practises hire only pure bloods, so he's been languishing in low paid positions and taking work where he can. Spreading himself out and working part time in the muggle world as well keep a wage coming in."

"Bigoted arseholes," James muttered to himself, ruffling his hair in annoyance. "Alright, tell him to go and speak to Amelia. I know she's mentioned needing some help in the legal department a few times now. Especially since they booted out all the Death Eaters and Dumbledore's spies, I'll let her know to expect him."

"Dumbledore's spies?" Minerva asked in shock.

"Oh yeah, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Hestia Jones got fired from the Aurors for leaking stuff back to Dumbledore. Shacklebolt had been stopping the Aurors from answering any calls from Hogwarts students for years now, probably why the Aurors never turned up when the mini-death eaters in Slytherin started taking pot shots at people." He explained, ignoring Minerva's shocked face. "There was another one too, from legal... Sturgeon? Surgeon? Sturgis, that was it, Sturgis Podmore. Dunno what Dumbledore was having him do, but he was fired as well. There were probably more, but those are the three Amelia told me about."

"Merlin," Minerva breathed out, not having realised how bad things really were.

"It's no surprise The Ministry is as useless as it is, half of them were spies for Voldemort, the other half were spying for Dumbledore." James explained with a laugh. "Anyway, I should get over there." He said with a grin.

"Say hello to my dear cousin when you see him for me." Andromeda said with a smile as James headed towards the classroom door.

"Sure thing, lock up when you leave." James smiled as he gave the two witches a quick wave before jogging out of the classroom and into the corridor.

"He really is an extraordinary teacher, though I have to admit, I do rather wish he would curb his language sometimes." Minerva admitted, shaking her head at James' actions. "He is far cruder now than I ever remember him being as a student." She mused aloud with a small frown as she remembered the innocent and carefree boy James used to be in the seventies.

"Would it kill him to wear robes as well?" Andromeda asked with a small laugh. "I know I've only been here as long as he has, but from everything I've heard, he's the most popular teacher in the school right now."

"I would have to agree with that assessment," Minerva said with a small nod. "I have heard students discussing his lectures quite often around the school. I can't say I've seen the students this excited about their lessons in a long time." She explained thoughtfully. "Honestly, I have to admit, he is doing far better than I ever could have imagined. While James grew up somewhat in his seventh year, I would never have imagined him ever accepting teaching as a profession, certainly not taking to it as well as he has."

"So you'll put up with the muggle clothes and swearing, as long as he's popular and teaching the kids?" Andromeda laughed. "I'm sure if Nymphadora had still been here, she would have been first in line to every one of his lessons as well."

"Knowing what I do about Nymphadora, I'm almost worried the young girl would have ended up with quite the crush on James after just a single lesson." Minerva confessed with a wry smile.

"Oh don't say that, not when we've just got him to agree to meet with her," Andromeda groused with a small laugh.

"I'm certain nothing would happen. From everything I've heard, he seems to be quite enamoured with Amelia Bones." Minerva admitted.

"James and Amelia?" Andromeda tilted her head to the side as she thought about it. "I'd heard rumours, but nothing... well, nothing certain about the pair of them."

"I've heard the same, I haven't actually spoken with James about it, but I'm almost certain that those rumours are fact." Minerva nodded thoughtfully. "From the way the young Mr Potter and Miss Bones are acting together, I'd believe those two will be brother and sister before too long."

"Well, there's something." Andromeda admitted with a chuckle. "I never thought I'd see the day that Amelia Bones would settle down with a wizard. I'd always heard she was a witches witch."

"Just goes to show, rumours can rarely be trusted." Minerva commented, gesturing for them to leave the Defence classroom so she could lock it up for the day until James returned for classes tomorrow.

* * *

**Potter Manor**

**Honley**

**West Yorkshire**

"Sirius?" James yelled out as he came out of the floo, looking around the living room before he headed through into the kitchen. "Sirius? You here?" He shouted, louder this time as he came out of the kitchen and moved to the stairway. "Sirius?"

"Down here."

"Where?" James paused, looking around and listening for the yell.

"Here!" Another yell came, drawing James over to behind the spiral staircase that led upstairs where another small flight of stairs led down to a lower level of the manor.

"Down?" He yelled down the stairs.

"Down here." Sirius voice came back.

"Basement?" James mused aloud as he started walking down the stone steps, casually looking around in curiosity as he headed down. "Didn't even know there was a basement." He admitted to himself in a mutter as he walked down to find Sirius fiddling with some books. "What you got there?" He asked curiously.

"All the darker books from the Black Library." Sirius admitted, gesturing around to the two dozen or so wooden crates around the corner of the basement. "Figured it was better keeping them down here and locking up the door than having them hanging around somewhere upstairs."

"Good idea," James admitted, looking around the basement in wonder. "What's down here? I never even knew there was a basement here." He admitted.

"Euphemia used to grow cuttings down here, plants, herbs, potions ingredients, whatever else she wanted." Sirius explained, gesturing to the glowing orbs that were scattered around the ceiling. "Sunballs, lets the plants grow like they were outside." He explained. "Like a constant Lumos Solem in a crystal ball, lasts for decades with a decent rune matrix powering it."

"Ah," James nodded, shrugging that explanation off for now. Runes had never been something that particularly interested him, but as long as they worked and did what they were supposed to, he was happy to ignore them.

"Downstairs there's Fleamont's potions stuff, all the ingredients and books he didn't want around his room upstairs." Sirius continued on, ignoring James' surprised look.

"There's another downstairs?" James asked in surprise.

"Spiral staircase over there," Sirius explained, nodding over to the side of the stairway James came down from. "James always wanted to turn the downstairs into a lagoon," Sirius said with a grin, leaning back and reminiscing fondly. "Like a swimming pool, tropical lake style. Rocks, sand, hot spring, the works." He explained with a sigh. "I think half of it was an excuse to see your mum in a muggle bikini really." Sirius explained with a laugh, smiling wistfully at the memories this conversation brought up. "Would have been great though." He mused with a smile.

"Yeah," James mused idly, looking at the staircase that led down in amusement now. A hot lagoon swimming pool in his own house? That certainly sounded like something he could get behind. Especially if it would tempt Amelia into a swimming costume, or even better, maybe somewhere they could enjoy skinny dipping together.

"Anyway, what did you want?" Sirius asked, curious what had brought Junior to the manor today.

"Actually, two things." James said with a quick shake of his head to clear his thoughts of Amelia naked and sunbathing in a tropical paradise setting. "Why were mum and dad hiding out in Godric's Hollow when this place was empty and ready for them to move in?" He asked, gesturing around to mean the manor. "It's not like there's not enough space here right? And it's a hell of a lot more secure than Godric's Hollow must have been, I mean the wards here are at least a few decades old, the whole place is saturated in them."

"True," Sirius nodded back. "The place at Godric's Hollow was a wedding present from your grandparents." He explained. "Didn't I tell you any of this last time around?"

"You'd died by the time I found out about this place," James said with a small shrug. "It wasn't as if we had much time to talk together anyway, not without Dumbledore looming around and deciding what I was allowed to know."

"Right, that." Sirius nodded sombrely. "Your mum wanted somewhere where she could have magic as well as a muggle life. You know, she wanted electricity and stuff like that. She even had a TV and record player and everything. Your mum introducing Prongs to disco music was the highlight of my life I tell you." He explained with a laugh as he got lost in the memory. "It was just somewhere where she could have the best of both worlds, not give up the muggle world altogether."

"Huh," James frowned thoughtfully at that.

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged. "Godric's Hollow is the biggest mixed village around, so Flea and Euphemia bought them the place there." He explained. "It's where you were born, so I figure your parents didn't want to abandon it. Good memories, their first house together, where they started a family? It's all pretty important stuff when it comes down to it."

"Yeah I guess, I was just curious and wanted to know. It always felt weird not knowing why my parents hadn't lived here, I was half convinced that Dumbledore had used some compulsion spell on them to live out in the open like that instead of staying here." James mused aloud.

"Nothing like that," Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. "Not that I wouldn't put it past the old bastard to try something like that, but it was just your mum and dad wanting to stay in a house they loved. Nothing wrong with that." He explained with a fond smile. "What else did you want to ask then? I figure you know most of everything anyway right?"

"Probably not actually," James chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "In school, you and my dad had those communication mirrors?"

"Merlin's crusty sock!" Sirius laughed aloud as he put down the book he was reading and looked up at James at that with a wide smile on his face. "I haven't thought about those old things in years." He explained with a chuckle. "Yeah, we all had one. Me, your dad, Lily, even Remus and Peter." He finished off darkly.

"My mum had one?" James asked in surprise.

"Oh yeah, they were a set, all linked together so we could chat whenever we wanted." Sirius explained with a nod. "Merlin knows what happened to them. Lost mine ages before I ended up in Azkaban, they could be anywhere by now." He said thoughtfully. "Reckon your mum kept hers somewhere, she was always the organised one. Dunno about the rest though. Why'd you bring those old things up anyway?"

"How did you make them? Link them I mean?" James asked curiously.

"Nah, wasn't me." Sirius shook his head. "Not your dad either, Remus might have been able to do them I reckon. Between him and your mum they'd have worked it out in no time. They were the brainy ones when it came to charms like that, not me and your dad, we were always better at Transfig and Defence. Your dad was no slouch at runes either, your mum preferred Arithmancy though. She was a bit more like me with that sort of stuff I guess, I stuck with enchanting, more fun playing with that sort of stuff than fiddling with old runes."

"Huh," James frowned, moving over and sitting on one of the book boxes casually. "I always thought you made them." He admitted. "You gave me one, back in fifth year I mean, to stay in touch when you were in hiding. I always thought you made it, or you and my dad did them."

"Smart of me," Sirius grinned over. "Ballsy as well, must have snuck out of Grimmauld to get them. Happy to hear that other version of me wasn't as much of a neutered poodle that you made him out like."

"Get them?" James asked.

"Magical Mirrors in Diagon, Janus Galloglass makes them. Custom work though, so don't expect to just wander in and buy a pair." Sirius explained. "Charms master, seriously, he's forgotten more about charms than me and your dad ever knew. One of Flitwick's old apprentices, did his mastery at Hogwarts long before me and your dad were there."

"You bought them?" James asked, blinking in surprise at that.

"Oh yeah, Janus' place has everything to do with mirrors. Foe glasses, talking mirrors, communication mirrors." He explained, gesturing to James. "Anything to do with mirrors you want, he can do it. He's the best when it comes to charming stuff like that, won't go wrong with his stuff." He said with a grin. "Thinking of getting some?"

"Yeah," James nodded thoughtfully. "Me, you, Amelia and Julia, and one for all of the kids." He explained.

"Good idea," Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah," James sighed. "Last week, when I ran off after Greyback, I kinda left the mini-me in the lurch, not knowing what was happening." He explained with a grimace. "Didn't even think about it until I saw him the morning after."

"Owch," Sirius winced, looking at him with sympathy. "I wouldn't have thought about it either." He admitted with a frown.

"Yeah," James frowned thoughtfully. "Felt like shit, taking on the role of his dad, then vanishing like that without letting him know." He explained. "I figured these mirrors might help him, you know, keep in touch with me, you, Amelia, everyone really. Let him know that he's not alone anymore."

"Is that... how you felt, when you started Hogwarts?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

"Pretty much," James nodded. "I mean, it was amazing, being around magic, finally finding somewhere I belonged, but... every year I'd have to go back to The Dursley's thanks to Dumbledore. Leave everyone behind and just go back to being Harry the House-Elf again." He explained. "Hogwarts was like a home away from it all, a sanctuary. Hell, that's probably why Dumbledore did it, so I'd look at Hogwarts and him as a sanctuary away from the Dursley's every year. Like he was conditioning me to look up to him and be willing to do anything he said because he rescued me from them every year."

"It sounds like it to me." Sirius growled angrily at the thought.

"Me too," James grimaced thoughtfully before shaking the angry thought away. "Thanks though, for the mirrors, I'll head over there and see what I can find." He said with a grin, hopping off of the box and dusting down his coat from where he'd been sitting.

"No problem," Sirius smiled over. "I'm just looking through, trying to see if there's anything about Horcruxes anywhere in any of this mess." He explained with a gesture to the books in question. "You wouldn't believe some of the screwed up stuff my family had."

"I really would," James muttered, giving the books a dubious glance of his own. "Take a break from them, you don't want to be reading through that much dark stuff all in one go. It'll send you as nutty as the rest of your family were."

"You're probably right," Sirius admitted with a sigh, tossing the book in his hand off to one side disdainfully.

"Right, Diagon Alley." James grinned as he headed towards the stairs. "Oh, and downstairs, that lagoon idea of my dads?"

"Yeah?" Sirius asked, looking over at James curiously.

"See what you can do about it." James said with a grin. "I love the idea." He said with a laugh before turning around and jogging up the stairs back to the main floor of the manor.

"Sure thing Junior," Sirius chuckled to himself as he watched James vanish from view. "That... I can do that." He said with a grin as he started planning out how he could actually do it.

* * *

**Diagon Alley**

"Janus Galloglass Magical Mirrors," James read off the sign, idly wondering why he'd never come across this shop before. Of course, chances were that it didn't even exist after the war, if Janus was a muggle-born or even a half-blood, there was every chance that he hadn't even survived Voldemort's return and The Ministry's persecution either.

Shrugging the thought aside from now he headed inside, pushing the door open casually as he entered the store, looking around at all the various mirrors that littered the store, some stuck to walls, doors, even on the ceiling and others floating on levitating charms and moving around the shop of their own accord.

"Loving the coat darling, it's so you, yet so YOU!"

James span at the female voice that was blatantly flirting with him, only to find nobody there, just a full length mirror reflecting him with an appraising shimmer.

"Welcome to Magical Mirrors,"

James span around again at the voice, a male and older one this time. "Thanks." He grinned over, spotting an older wizard in silvery robes at the counter at the end of the shop.

"One of our biggest sellers, I can change the voice on it to anyone you want. An ex girlfriend, an old teacher, whatever takes your fancy. Just need a memory of their voice and I'll do the rest." The wizard explained with a raspy laugh.

"No thanks," James chuckled to himself as he headed away from the flirty mirror. "I was told you're the place to come for some communication mirrors. A set of them really."

"Two way mirrors," The wizard nodded as James approached the counter. "Aye, always a pleasure to work on something challenging like that."

"Fantastic," James grinned over. "I need a set of nine smaller ones, pocket sized really, and three larger ones, like the sort you'd hang over a fireplace or a desk."

"Big order," The wizard smiled approvingly. "I do like a challenge, all linked to each other I assume?"

"All of them," James nodded. "One of the big ones though, I need it to be answer only."

"Makes it a bit easier," The wizard nodded, pulling out some parchment and jotting some notes down. "The bigger ones are definitely easier to work on. I'll need the names to imprint on all of them."

"Alright," James nodded, taking the offered parchment and quill, writing down everyone's names, including Harry, Susan, Daphne, Hermione and Neville. "The three big ones. That's James Office, James Home, and Grangers." He explained, marking the three of the names with a little star by them.

"Aye, I can do that." The wizard nodded thoughtfully, taking the parchment back. "Big order though, gonna be a few days at least before I can sort this out for you."

"That's fine," James shrugged.

"Saturday afternoon, should have 'em done for you then." The wizard said after calculating a few things in his head. "Won' be cheap though." He said, looking over at James with a frown.

"How much?" James asked, matching the wizards calculating expression with a wary one of his own.

"Fifty galleons a piece for the larger ones, call it nine each for the smaller ones. Y'know what, call it two hundred even, reckon that'd cover the lot of 'em. Discount for a decent order an' a decent challenge." The wizard said after a moment's pause.

"Done and done," James nodded, fishing out his mokeskin bag and counting out a hundred of the golden coins. "Half now, half when I pick them up?" He asked, holding out the hundred galleons.

"Sound fair," The wizard nodded. "Nice doin' business with you." He said with a wide smile.

"Saturday then." James nodded over, replacing his money pouch in his pocket before he nodded to the wizard and headed back out of the store, stepping out into Diagon Alley for a moment before he concentrated on The Ministry Atrium and vanished with a twist and a crack.

* * *

**The Ministry of Magic**

**Department of Magical Law Enforcement**

**London**

"What?!" Amelia yelled out, her voice demanding an answer as yet another interruption knocked on her door.

"Just the paperwork for the last seven Aurors ma'am. They're getting settled in now." The assistant witch said softly with a look of terror on her face as she gingerly opened the office door.

"Put them over there, I'll sign off on them when I get chance." Amelia muttered, flicking her wand over to a table on the side of her office. "Is The Minister still poking around out there?"

"He's been down a few times," The assistant explained with a grimace. "I don't think he's out there now though, so if you want to make a break for it..." She trailed off as Amelia snorted in laughter at her comment.

"Sorry for that," Amelia said, shaking her head. "It's been nothing but interruptions all day, it's not like I don't have enough to do already."

"I'll try and keep as much of your schedule clear as I can." The assistant witch smiled over. "And more coffee?"

"You were sent by Merlin himself," Amelia chuckled as the assistant took her empty mug and headed out of the office, quietly closing the door behind her.

Out in the main Auror department, things were even more hectic than usual. With nineteen new Aurors being transferred from the Academy this week, there were trainees and new desks being set up all over the place, the new Aurors still fumbling around and looking around the place with awe and wide eyed joy at their new job.

She was making a new coffee as she watched the various new Aurors finding their way around, skittering around paperwork and the more experienced Aurors in the department as they tried to find their own places to sit and make a place of their own. It was amusing to watch, but the Auror department actually felt lighter and more care free than it had in years now, with the oppressive and darker Aurors having been fired, leaving room on the floor for more light hearted banter and a more casual working area that would have had the pure blood bigoted Aurors screaming in anger at their workmates.

She had just finished up making up a large mug of black coffee for her boss when she spotted someone heading over to the boss' office, he was clearly an Auror given the dragon-skin coat he was wearing, but wasn't one she'd ever seen around the department before, which meant he was obviously one of the newbies that was supposed to be assigned paperwork for the first hour or so until they'd figured out what patrol circuit to put them on.

"Excuse me, excuse me! You can't... you can't go in there!" The assistant said quickly, rushing over while being careful not to spill any of her boss's coffee as she jogged to intercept the newbie Auror.

"Why not?" The Auror asked, raising an eyebrow down at her with a smirk on his face.

"Director Bones isn't having any more meetings today, you should be back at your desk getting your paperwork filled in and ready for patrol." The assistant said firmly.

"I'm not... look, I'm not here..." The Auror muttered, ruffling his hair. "Really, I think you've got the wrong idea here, I'm not an..."

"James, get your arse in here!"

"That," He chuckled, stepping around the assistant easily enough and pushing through to Director Bones' office door.

"You can't!" The assistant squeaked, dashing forward to grab hold of the Auror's arm with one hand, trying to hold him back while keep Director Bones' coffee stable in her other hand.

"What are you..." He trailed off, looking down at the young assistant that was holding onto the sleeve of his coat as he opened the office door. "Amelia, is this one of yours?" He asked in amusement, looking down at the five foot one witch who was trying valiantly, though unsuccessfully, to drag him back out of Amelia's office.

"Yes," Amelia muttered, rolling her eyes at the sight of the assistant that made even her feel tall, hanging on to James Potter's arm in shock. "Sophie, this is James Potter. James, Sophie, the best assistant I've ever had I'll inform you."

"James..." The assistant squeaked out, looking up at the face and finally recognising him before flushing red with embarrassment.

"Stop breaking my staff," Amelia groused, standing up from her desk when she heard the squeak from her assistant.

"I didn't do anything!" James said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender.

"That's for me I take it," Amelia said, accepting the coffee from Sophie with a wordless glance. "James? One while we talk?"

"Sure," James shrugged curiously, looking around Amelia's office with interest.

"Cream and three sugars for that shameful hedonist of mine." Amelia muttered, shaking her head as Sophie nodded silently and dashed out of the office.

"And proud of it," James said with a grin as Amelia headed back to her desk, happily drinking from her mug of coffee as she walked. "Looks busy out there."

"Busier than it's been in a long time," Amelia muttered as she sat down at her desk and sighed. "Not just busy, but... they're moving with purpose, they know what they've got to do now. There's no ambiguity, no bribery, no favours or political manoeuvring. It's all black and white now, just the way I like it. No Umbridge butting in, no Fudge saying which way he needs trials to go, it's all by the book and run by regulation."

"Sounds good," James commented with a nod as he sat down in the spare chair opposite the desk.

"It is, it most certainly is." Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "So, what brings you down here then?"

"Two, no, three things actually. Maybe four." James ticked off on his hand thoughtfully. "A few." He said with a shrug, dropping his hand back into his lap and giving up counting as he thought of everything he needed to talk about with Amelia today.

"Very well, you have fifteen minutes." Amelia indicated, removing her charmed monocle for now and giving James her full attention.

"One, Nymphadora Tonks. She didn't get into the Academy?" James asked curiously.

"No," Amelia admitted. "I kept an eye on her scores like you asked, her records say that she was authorised her for the position there a month ago, handpicked by Alastor Moody as well, but her marks on strategy and stealth fall far short of the mark, that's even before I raised the standards after Voldemort's return. By the new standards, even her duelling scores wouldn't have measured up. I need the best out there, not just any wands I can get my hands on to fill the patrol schedule up." She explained. "I'd love to have a metamorph on the books, but with her skills just aren't up to the standard I need for a wartime footing."

"Right," James sighed thoughtfully, raising his eyebrow when Amelia looked at him with a curious glance. "Andromeda and Minerva want me to take her on as an assistant teacher. You know, cover things with the kids if there's a Death Eater attack or Voldemort comes out of hiding." He explained with a shrug.

"Ah," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "Her defence scores were pretty high, good charms and transfiguration I think. I raised up the scores for admittance after seeing your little duel with Voldemort, having reasonable defence abilities just isn't going to be enough anymore. I'm not going to be the one burying good Aurors just because they didn't have the skills to go against the Death Eaters in combat."

"That's fair," James nodded back as the office door opened again, letting assistant Sophie into the office with a steaming mug of coffee for James to take. "Thanks." He smiled up, offering the small girl a beaming smile as he accepted the mug of coffee from her, causing her to blush and stammer in response to him.

"Stop breaking my staff!" Amelia interrupted, tossing a wad of parchment at James that bounced off of his head, giving Sophie enough of a break to scamper away from him and escape from the office. "So, what are you going to do about her?"

"Tonks?" James sighed, enjoying a mouthful of coffee. "A few days ago, I'd have just ignored her completely, forgotten about her and pushed on with what we've been doing."

"And now?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Now... now, maybe it's time I started forgiving people, especially when they haven't done anything yet." James admitted with a sigh. "Tonks was only, what, eighteen? When Dumbledore got his claws into her. She didn't know what she was doing. She's a kid, if I can't blame Hagrid for what he did, I definitely can't blame Tonks for what she did back then."

"Eighteen, nineteen early next year I think." Amelia confirmed thoughtfully. "Only a year or two younger than Remus Lupin would have been when he followed Albus Dumbledore's orders too, just like Sirius."

James startled at that, freezing mid action as he froze mid sip from his coffee. That was a realisation he hadn't had. God, his parents, Remus, Sirius, they were all just kids when Voldemort had attacked. They'd been twenty, twenty one, something like that. They would have been half his age when they were making stupid decisions like that, and he was holding them against them all all these years later. "Oh god," He muttered, putting his mug of coffee on the desk as he rubbed his face, thinking about that realisation. "They were kids." He muttered. "Just like I was, just like we all were." He whispered to himself.

"Certainly," Amelia nodded over. "As you said, Albus Dumbledore likes to use people for his own ends. The young and the innocent don't see the bigger picture, it would be easy to be taken in by him, especially just coming out of Hogwarts where he was the lord and master of the castle." She explained with a wry smile at her description of how Dumbledore used to run Hogwarts.

"I remember that all too well," James admitted, remembering how Dumbledore's larger than life presence in Hogwarts had always made him seem awe inspiring and greater than they could all ever hope to be.

"They made a mistake. Nymphadora, Remus, Sirius, they all did." Amelia commented, nodding to him. "People make mistakes, nobody's perfect. Not everyone saw through Dumbledore the way a few of us did. Most of the time it takes losing someone close to you in one of his schemes before people took a close look at his actions." She paused, waiting for James to nod in agreement with her before continuing. "Maybe give Nymphadora a chance this time around, she might surprise you."

"Maybe," James sighed, picking up his mug again and taking a large mouthful of coffee. "You know, it was easier to be mad at them all, not thinking of them like kids who made a mistake."

"Weren't you the one telling Sirius to move on and not hold onto the past for too long?" Amelia countered, enjoying a mouthful of her own coffee.

"I hate that you pay attention to me," James groused with a smirk, shaking his head in amusement at her snort of laughter. "Alright, and while we're talking about Tonks, Tonkses, Tonksi... you can have your own."

"My own?" Amelia asked, cocking an eyebrow in confusion.

"Ted Tonks, Andromeda's husband. He's looking for a job apparently, I told Andromeda to send him to you." James explained as he leaned back in the chair.

"To me?" Amelia frowned thoughtfully. "What does he do?"

"Law Wizard apparently," James shrugged. "Muggle-born, so he's getting screwed over out there by all the pure blood law practises that don't want anything to do with him."

"Well, I could certainly use some more wands in legal." Amelia admitted with a nod. "Especially someone we could trust." She mused aloud. "You know him?"

"In passing," James frowned as he tried to remember what he knew about Ted Tonks. "I met him once, when he was on the run from the Muggle-born relocation camps. Him and Andromeda fixed me up, bandaged some ribs and a broken arm. I remember him being a pretty decent guy, but I didn't get to see him again before he was killed."

"If he comes in, I'll have him brought down to me immediately then." Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "Having someone I can trust in each department, keeping an eye on things for me, would be a godsend right now."

"I can imagine," James muttered, happily enjoying his coffee.

"Very well, what else then? Tonkses aside?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Um, I'm sorting out some communication mirrors for everyone. Two way mirror sort of things. I've got one for all of the girls, me, you, Sirius and Julia. I'm picking them up on Saturday." James ticked off one point on his hand. "I got one for Hermione, and an answer only one for her parents. It's her birthday next week, so I wanted to get her something she could use to stay in touch with them."

"That's a rather extravagant birthday present for a twelve year old," Amelia commented with a frown. "I'm assuming she doesn't know how much these mirrors cost?"

"Probably not," James shrugged. "I'll put unbreakable charms on them, the usual stuff. I just didn't want to leave the mini-me in the lurch again like I did last week. This way, if anything happens, we can both get in contact with him and Susan, let them know we're alright."

"I'm not denying the use of them, simply the expense." Amelia admitted. "If they were cheaper, I'd have one for all of my Aurors as well. One... that many, all linked together must have cost you a fortune. It's hardly something I can justify for the department, not even with the new budget I've got."

"It's worth it," James shrugged the comment off.

"I assume Miss Granger is settling in with the group then?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Oh yeah, last night she was in the library with them all, Neville as well actually. The five of them seem quite happy together really." James explained happily.

"Very well," Amelia sighed. "You will have to explain to Miss Granger's parents why you are buying their daughter such a gift however. Do remember, that while you may be protective over her because of your memories of the witch she is to become, Miss Granger doesn't have these memories, and she only knows you as her professor and father to her friend."

"Right," James sighed, slumping back in his chair.

"I've told you, you can't keep treating people like you did in your own time." Amelia explained patiently. "The young Miss Granger at Hogwarts is not the witch you knew, with the changes you are making, there is a very good chance she will never be the witch you knew."

"I know," James admitted with a grimace. "Alright, I'll talk to the mini-me, see if we can figure something out for Hermione's birthday that doesn't make me look like a complete idiot right now."

"I'm sure she will be touched by the present, allowing her to speak with her family during the school year must be a big thing for a muggle-born student." Amelia explained thoughtfully.

"She doesn't have an owl, no pet at all actually." James muttered with a frown. "So she doesn't have any way to get in touch with her parents without using the school owls, and they can't even send a birthday card or presents up to her."

"That does sound rather lonely," Amelia admitted. "Talk to the girl's parents, I'm sure the mirrors will be a god-send for them."

"I hope so," James nodded with a thoughtful sigh, remembering well how broken Hermione had been when she hadn't been able to return her parents memories after the war. This time around he was going to make certain that Hermione kept her parents and had a better relationship with them than she'd ever had in his time.

"Anything else?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Not much I can think of," James admitted, draining the last of his coffee. "Oh Sirius found a basement at the manor, apparently my dad used to use it as a potions lab and my mum used it as a greenhouse."

"Most old families have potions laboratories in their basements," Amelia nodded in agreement. "Keeping the ingredients cool and away from strong light is vital in a lot of cases."

"Right, well neither me or him are any good at potions really, and I'm pants at growing stuff. Seriously, I can kill a house plant." James explained with a dry chuckle at his failings with herbology. "Anyway, he's been clearing it out, all the nastier books from the Black Library at Grimmauld are down there right now, but we're going to empty it out fully soon when I get a chance." He explained thoughtfully. "Might have to turn one of the spare rooms into a second library just for the darker books he's brought over."

"Oh?" Amelia cocked an eyebrow curiously, wondering what James had planned. Maybe a duelling room or a practice area with dummies and charmed targets perhaps?

"Sirius told me he's got plans for a lagoon down there, hot springs, a beach, the works." James explained with a grin. "Somewhere to go skinny-dipping on a cold evening?" He asked with a smirk.

"James!" Amelia laughed back at him, shaking her head in amusement, though privately in her mind she was very happy with the mental images that James' description had conjured for her.

"I'm letting him have his fun down there, I think it'd do him good to have somewhere to be creative for a bit and let off some steam." James admitted.

"That... that's actually a good idea." Amelia confessed. "I admit, I was getting worried about him pottering around with nothing to do all day."

"Yeah, me too." James admitted. "I'm working on some other ideas though, so hopefully he'll have his own little projects to get him out and about with as well."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed." Amelia nodded. "Are you at the manor tonight then?"

"Heading back to the school," James said, shaking his head. "I've got some sixth year homework to mark for tonight, want to check in with the kids as well, haven't really seen them much this week."

"Very well, do you mind if I join you this evening then perhaps?" Amelia asked hopefully.

"You're always welcome," James grinned over. "I'll leave the floo open, just come on through when you're ready."

"I don't expect to be finished here until about eight," Amelia explained. "I'll floo straight up."

"See you then," James smiled as he stood up, stretching from where he'd been slumped in the comfortable chair. "Enjoy your paperwork." He said, smirking down at the various papers littering Amelia's desk.

"Do try not to break any more of my staff on your way out," Amelia commented, rolling her eyes at James' attempt at wit.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." James muttered with a smirk, shaking his head at Amelia as he headed out of her office and closed the door behind him to head back up to Hogwarts.

* * *

_**AN:** It's canon information that Godric's Hollow was a mixed village of muggles and magicals, we know the village is modernised with electricity from JK's descriptions in Deathly Hallows. The idea of it being a choice of Lily's where she could live in the magical and muggle world together is just extrapolation of mine given the various pieces of information we have... it makes sense and fits the timeline and information given through the books._

_The fact Godric's Hollow has electricity in the village and houses, but is still home to a large number of magical families, both being canon in the books, lends more credence to my firm belief that the "electricity doesn't work around magic" stuff is an outright lie perpetrated by pure bloods._

_Also, the mental image of Lily teaching James and Sirius disco dancing in the 70s is just too hilarious not to include XD_


	23. Chapter 23

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Friday, 13th September**

**Defence Against the Dark Arts Office**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

"Dad?" Harry asked, knocking on the office door and poking his head inside curiously.

"Yeah, come in." James commented from his desk, idly flicking his eyes up from the book he'd been reading to see his younger self stood in the doorway. "What's up?" He asked curiously.

Harry paused, closing the door as he looked over at his older self. Noticing the casual way he was sitting at the desk, with his feet and heavy leather boots crossed at the ankle on his desk, while he lazed back on the chair, leaning back on it's two back legs.

He was wearing just jeans and a grey t-shirt, his normal style of dress from what Harry was used to by now, but it was still strange to look at him and know it was his older self sat there. His older self with a strong and confident body, relaxing like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Um, we... we had flying practice yesterday." Harry admitted.

"That was yesterday?" James grimaced. "Sorry, I forgot all about that. It's you being in Hufflepuff, it's thrown all my days off. I thought that was today, but that's the Gryffindor's and Slytherins." He admitted. "How'd it go?" He asked, swivelling around and sliding his feet off of the desk so he could sit and speak to his younger self properly.

"It... it was fun, I mean, I know you like flying, and I do, I really do." Harry explained quickly.

"I'm sensing a but here," James said quickly. "What happened? You were with the Ravenclaws right? Any bullies in their group?"

"No, nothing like that." Harry shook his head. "It's just... we were all chatting about quidditch afterwards and... and I started thinking about it."

"Alright?" James cocked his head to the side. "It's alright, I've been here, there, you know, nothing you can say is going to surprise me. So I'm not going to get angry or anything."

"I... I don't think I want to play quidditch." Harry admitted in a quick run of words after taking a deep breath.

"OK, I take it back, you surprised me." James said, blinking in shock as he looked over at his younger self. "You don't want to play quidditch?"

"I don't think so," Harry whispered, shaking his head. "I know you were seeker and you loved playing and you love..."

"Calm down." James interrupted, holding up his hand and pointing to one of the comfy chairs in the office. "Sit down and start from the beginning." He said with a smile.

"After quidditch, Cedric came over and spoke to me and a few of the others." Harry explained as he sat down in one of the chairs awkwardly. "He said he'd been watching and he thinks we'd all make great players in a few years."

"Alright?" James nodded, indicating for his younger self to continue.

"Cedric's the seeker right? And everyone says he's really good, like professionally good." Harry explained. "He wants to play for a job, on a big team. He keeps talking about the Kenmare Kestrels and how he wants to play for them when he's finished at school."

"Right," James sighed, of course Cedric was the Hufflepuff seeker, he'd forgotten all about that.

"It's just... I'd rather be with Susan and everyone else in the common room or the library, instead of being out there playing quidditch." Harry admitted in a quiet voice. "I'd like to spend time with my friends instead. None of them are really interested in playing, and I don't want to try and take the position away from Cedric when it's something he wants to do for a job."

"You do that then." James grinned over, leaning back casually and linking his hands behind his head as he relaxed, noting the surprised look on his younger self's face. "Harry, it's your life, like I told you, I'm not going to try and control you or tell you what to do, if you don't want to play quidditch, then that's up to you."

"You... you're not mad?" Harry asked in amazement, so used to adults getting angry when he didn't do what they expected him to.

"Nope," James shook his head, popping the 'p' as he spoke. "I liked quidditch in Gryffindor because it helped me make friends, it was something I enjoyed." He explained slowly. "If that's not you, then don't worry about it. Spend time with Susan and Hermione and everyone else, catch up on homework, play exploding snap, do whatever you want to." He explained with a smile. "Our dad was a chaser, but I'm sure he'd want you to follow your own path, not do whatever anyone else tried pushing you to do."

"But... I... I wanted to be like you." Harry admitted with a confused frown.

"We're doing this, all of this, so that you don't have to be like me." James admitted. "Look, I did rubbish in school, really." James admitted with a sigh. "I took the easiest courses, barely passed half of them, didn't even go back for my NEWTs." He admitted. "I know, I was busy fighting Voldemort or being in the tournament, or with dementors or crazy ministry psychos, but that's my point, none of that is going to happen to you."

"So... what am I going to be then?" Harry asked curiously.

"Whatever you want." James explained seriously. "Listen, I had people controlling my life all the way through Hogwarts, who my friends were, everything. I've made sure you don't have any of that. No headmaster pulling your strings and turning you into a puppet, no potions teacher yelling at you. No idiot Weasley bullying away everyone else from you, and no Voldemort looming over your future." He said bluntly. "You're free to do whatever the hell you want. You want to be a potions master? Go for it. Apprentice for charms under Professor Flitwick like mum was going to do? I'll cheer you on. It's up to you, not me, not anyone else, you."

"I... I thought you wanted me to become just like you." Harry admitted quietly.

"You're not going to become me Harry." James said softly, fixing his younger self with a grin. "You're going to be better than that." He said with a laugh as his younger self went wide eyed with amazement at James' proclamation.

"You... you don't mind if I don't play quidditch then?" Harry asked in amazement. "Even though you bought me the Nimbus and everything?"

"You still enjoy flying don't you?" James asked curiously.

"Of course!" Harry nodded back excitedly.

"So just enjoy flying," James shrugged. "Though I wouldn't let any of the Hufflepuff quidditch team know you've got a Nimbus two thousand sitting in your bedroom at home, something that like might make a few of the badgers cry." He admitted with a chuckle.

"Alright," Harry smiled back, relaxing and feeling a whole lot lighter now than he did when he'd come to the office originally.

"How's everything going then? Homework? Susan? Hermione? Everyone else?" James asked curiously.

"Really good!" Harry bounced excitedly. "Charms is amazing!" He grinned over. "Professor Flitwick says me and Susan are top of the class already!"

"Knew it," James grinned to himself happily at that.

"Potions is so much fun!" Harry grinned over. "It's like ancient chemistry."

"Something like that," James nodded back. "I never really enjoyed potions actually, not for my first five years anyway." He admitted. "It's strange seeing how much you love it."

"It's really fun." Harry said immediately. "Professor Tonks is amazing!"

"She is, she's also Sirius' cousin, I don't know if she's told you that." James mused aloud. "Her daughter might be coming in to help me out in classes from time to time."

"Is she like family too then?" Harry asked curiously.

"Extended family I guess," James admitted. "We're related to them, a few generations ago and through more twists than a corkscrew, but it's there." He explained with a shrug. "She's like a cousin I guess? A very distant cousin. Something like that, somewhere down the line anyway."

"What's she like? Professor Tonks daughter?"

"About seven years older than you, she finished school last year." James explained. "Bright pink hair most of the time, sort of punk clothing, you know the sort of people that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would cross over the street to avoid or turn around and walk away from in shops?"

"With leather jackets like yours?" Harry nodded eagerly.

"Right," James nodded. "She's like that."

"She sounds amazing!" Harry grinned over, already thinking that anyone his aunt and uncle would hate was certainly going to be an amazing person in his book.

"I'm sure you'll meet her around, she'll probably fall over you at some point thinking about it." James muttered to himself, idly wondering if Tonks' clumsy nature was actually going to be a liability in a defence classroom.

"I can't wait!" Harry smiled at that.

"I'm sure," James chuckled wryly. "Have you spoken to Hermione today?"

"Earlier at lunch," Harry nodded back. "She comes and sits at the Hufflepuff table with Neville and Daphne, everyone's fine with her coming over, she says she prefers it to the Gryffindor table, Neville does too."

"I'll bet they do," James nodded thoughtfully.

"Alright, if you see her this afternoon, could you ask her to come and see me?" James asked. "She's not in trouble or anything, but it's her birthday next week."

"Her birthday?" Harry whispered. "She didn't tell me?"

"She's twelve, next Thursday." James explained. "I know she hasn't got an owl to send down to her parents so she can get a card or anything, so I wanted her to know I can drop by her parents and give them a letter from her or anything she wanted."

"She can't talk to her mum and dad?" Harry asked in shock, feeling sad for his new friend now.

"Not at the moment." James admitted. "She can use the school owls to send letters home, but they can't write back to her without their own owl."

"That's not very good." Harry said with a frown as he thought about it. "Why doesn't the school have anything for people like Hermione?"

"Because the old headmaster and the school governors never really cared about muggle-born students like Hermione. We do." James explained bluntly, thinking of all the times Dumbledore had quite happily ignored the pure blood bigotry and bullying that constantly made muggle-borns lives hell at Hogwarts in his time. "So if you and Susan want to arrange a little party for Hermione's birthday, let me know and I'll help you out with it."

"Definitely!" Harry nodded back eagerly. "Am... are... I don't have a present for her though."

"I'll sort that out, don't worry about it. I can write that it's from both of us." James explained with a grin.

"When is Susan's birthday, or Daphne's?" Harry asked quickly. "They're going to be my sisters and I don't even know when their birthdays are!"

"I..." James frowned thoughtfully. "Actually, I don't know either." He admitted. "Find out from them and let me know as well will you." He said with a grin.

"Right!" Harry nodded quickly at that. "Hagrid invited me down for a cup of tea this afternoon? Is that alright?"

"Yeah, just don't trust his cakes alright?" James informed his younger self. "Oh and his big dog, Fang, big old softy, don't have to worry about him at all."

"Really?" Harry whispered, remembering Aunt Marge's dogs all too well.

"Yup, the most dangerous thing Fang would do is slobber you to death." James smirked over. "Have fun, and say hi to Hagrid for me."

"I will." Harry nodded, bouncing as he stood up from the chair. "Thanks dad, you know, for being awesome."

"Anytime mini-me," James grinned over. "Go on, go and have fun, or do homework, or whatever you do for fun down with the other badgers." He explained, waving his younger self off with a laugh.

"Bye!" Harry grinned back, slipping out of the office door and closing it behind him, leaving James alone at his desk to contemplate what had been said between the two of them.

Harry not wanting to play quidditch was certainly a twist, hearing that he didn't want to add competition for Cedric's spot was certainly the Hufflepuff thing to do, where Gryffindors would have been lining up for the challenge and the spotlight.

It did also raise the question of why he'd actually started playing quidditch in the first place. He'd been railroaded into it really, by Oliver and Minerva, sure, he'd found it was something he was pretty good at quickly on, and it gave him an excuse to fly whenever he wanted, but would he have actually chosen to play if he hadn't been pushed into it by Oliver, Minerva and Ron?

Lazing back on his office chair he contemplated that for a moment. He enjoyed flying, that was true enough, but would he have played quidditch if he hadn't have been forced into it without being asked?

If he was honest with himself, probably not. He didn't like the fame or the spotlight being pointed at him, and if he hadn't been roped into it, he wouldn't have given it a second thought really, especially back in his first year.

That was a rather intriguing realisation to come across, the fact that his younger self had figured that much out and decided he didn't want to play, despite how much he'd told him he enjoyed playing, was quite telling.

He enjoyed the game, but mostly because it was something of his own. Something he could do and enjoy playing with his own skills and talent, not something that was pushed on him for being the Boy-Who-Lived.

But back then, he'd never actually said no to anyone. Not to Minerva or Oliver, not to Ron or anyone, but his younger self had come to him and said he didn't want to play, all the while thinking that he wanted him to grow up to be just like him.

It was an intriguing and amusing conflict that didn't really fit together. Pretty much like most kids really. He was sure his younger self wouldn't understand, but he actually got quite the laugh out of realising that his younger self really was just like every other kid out there, just like he'd always wanted to be.

Life was rather bemusing when you could look in on your own life from an outside perspective.

* * *

**Saturday, 14th September**

"James!"

Being poked in the side was never a good way to wake up, especially after a comfortable nights sleep when he was certain he'd gone to bed alone.

"Hngh?" He groaned, opening his eyes and then closing them quickly as a bright light assaulted them. "What the..." He grunted, pulling the scarlet and gold duvet up over his face. "What's going on?" He groaned. "What time is it?"

"Just after six,"

"It's Saturday, why is there a six in the morning on a Saturday?" He groaned from under the covers, content now that he could at least recognise and identify Amelia's voice.

"Godric's Hollow was attacked last night." Amelia said bluntly.

"What?" James whispered, all drowsiness gone from his voice as that news filtered through to his brain. "What happened?"

"I've got Aurors there now," Amelia explained as James pulled his cover back and blinked at the light coming from her wand. "The cottage, your parents monument, it was all destroyed."

"Voldemort." James hissed out.

"Almost certainly," Amelia nodded in agreement.

"Which means he's found another body." James groaned as he got out of bed, ignoring the smirk on Amelia's face as he rolled out of bed naked and quickly pulled on some boxers and a clean pair of jeans from his dresser. "Any casualties?"

"Eighteen bodies identified so far," Amelia admitted after a moment's pause. "We're having trouble identifying muggle from magical, they hit both and it's all over the place."

"Great," James muttered sarcastically, grabbing a grey denim shirt from his wardrobe and pulling it on over a t-shirt. "I was thinking the bastard had been too quiet. He must have been planning this for his revenge."

"Thats what we think too." Amelia nodded in agreement, watching as James grabbed his wand and coat from the office area of the living suite. "I've pulled Alastor out of the academy, he's up there now keeping an eye on things."

"Paranoia rules the day then." James muttered to himself as he pulled his coat on. "I'll have to tell Minerva what's going on, Harry too. He deserves to hear about this before it's in the papers." He mused aloud before thinking through what Amelia had said. "Wait, Mad-Eye's still working for you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at her.

"At the academy," Amelia confirmed. "He signed the contract, apparently he'd already told Albus to... well, suffice to say, Alastor isn't in Albus' pocket any longer."

"Huh," James muttered, ruffling his sleep mussed hair as he contemplated that. "Didn't expect him to be the first to balk at Dumbledore's shit." He muttered as he headed towards the door that lead out to the Hogwarts corridor.

"He was rather frustrated at how you managed to show off all of Albus plans in a single move, a lot of things he'd missed and is rather annoyed at missing." Amelia explained at James' questioning look. "I'll find Minerva, you go and tell Harry what's happened." She smiled gently, following James out of the living suite and into the corridor, waiting for him to securely lock the door behind them before they both set off towards the main staircases of the school.

* * *

Down at the Hufflepuff den, James was suddenly thankful of the sorting night when Pomona had invited him in for the sorting feast. At least now he knew where the entrance was in the barrels and the secret knock to let himself in.

A quick 'Helga Hufflepuff' themed five knocks and the barrel swung open, letting him through into the open and breezy common room that the badgers occupied in the lower levels of the castle.

It wasn't hard to navigate through the various corridors, identifying the left side for boys was easy enough after he saw the stack of heels and shoes off to the side door of one of the right hand side dormitories.

Only Hufflepuffs would be so polite as to take their shoes off so they didn't mess up their dorm room carpets.

Heading down the left hand side corridors he idly started looking for any indications that showed what year the dorms were sorted by, or anything that identified them at all. Which was apparently a lot harder than it looked, as every dorm was on the same level, they all looked the same size, with exactly the same door, like everyone in the entire house was equal.

"Professor?"

Spinning around with a grin at the thought of finding someone to help him, he spotted a young Hufflepuff in pyjamas, stood in the corridor and looking at him in confusion.

"What are you doing in our common room?" The young Hufflepuff asked curiously.

"Emergency, where's the first years dorm?" James said quickly.

"Second on your left," The boy pointed out, indicating a few doors down from where he currently was. Heading down with quick strides he stopped in front of the door in question and looked back to the Hufflepuff. "This one?" He asked hopefully, getting a quick nod back in reply. "Thanks." He nodded back before he opened the door and strode inside without caring what anyone else thought about what was going on.

Inside the room he blinked for a second as he looked around, the dorm room felt a lot larger than his room in Gryffindor had done. Though that might have been because there were only four beds in this room, leaving space for two desks along with some shelves and places around the room for books and other various bits.

It was easy enough to recognise his younger self's bed, spotting the easily identifiable 'Potter hair' instantly he made his way over, kneeling down by the bed and shaking the shoulder of his younger self sharply.

"Wha... huh... dad?" Harry's blurry voice came out half asleep as he squinted and tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

"Here," James nodded, handing over his glasses. "Something's happened. I wanted to tell you about it before I left to deal with it."

"Something... something bad?" Harry whispered, sitting up in his bed.

"Pretty bad, yeah." James admitted, conjuring a bright red thick dressing gown for Harry to wear. "Come on. We need to talk about this privately." He said softly.

Harry simply nodded at that, climbing out of the bed and looking at the distinctively Gryffindor dressing gown before rolling his eyes and pulling it on over his pyjamas and following his older self out of the dorm room. "What's happened?" He asked quietly as they walked back to the common room.

"Godric's Hollow was attacked last night." James explained quietly, indicating to the side of the common room where they could talk quietly and he'd be able to see anyone that was coming around the various corridors to listen in. "It's... it's where our parents were buried." James explained in a whisper.

"Oh," Harry audibly swallowed at that, he'd been told his parents were dead, but he'd never actually thought about where they'd been buried before, or if they had graves or anything like that.

"Their home was there too, the cottage we lived in before... you know." James explained softly.

"Yeah," Harry nodded up to his older self.

"They attacked the cottage too." James explained. "It's going to be in the newspaper this morning, so I thought you should know."

"How... how bad was it?" Harry whispered softly.

"Bad," James admitted. "Amelia just woke me up, we're heading down there now to see what we can find out." He explained with a grimace. "It's just... with our parents cottage, the memorial and everything, everyone is going to be talking about it today."

"Right," Harry whispered, bundling the dressing gown tight around him.

"I didn't want you to..." James trailed off as the common room door opened, flicking his eyes to it instantly before relaxing when he recognised Amelia and Minerva coming through. "I didn't want you to worry like last time." He explained before Amelia and Minerva came over.

"Amelia's explained everything." Minerva said with a nod to James as she led the way over to them. "Do what you have to do." She said firmly.

"I plan to," James said darkly, wishing he'd actually been there to deal with those Death Eaters personally.

"Are you OK Harry?" Amelia asked quietly, looking down at the young boy in question.

"I just... I don't know why they're doing this?" Harry asked, looking up at her.

"Some people are just evil, that's all it comes down to." James said firmly.

"Your father is right," Minerva admitted. "People like this don't care for other people, not for their lives, their happiness, or their families."

"Which is why we fight them with everything we've got." James explained with a nod.

"Precisely." Amelia smiled down. "We'll be back with news as soon as we can be, but if you want to stay in the common room with Susan today, I don't think anyone would blame you."

"Certainly not." Minerva nodded in agreement. "I will have a house elf bring some food to your dorm throughout the day." She explained, getting appreciative looks from James and Amelia for that.

"I'll take care of your dad, don't worry about that." Amelia said, trying to make a joke out of it as she looked down at the youngest Potter.

Harry quickly moved forward and surprised not only her, but Minerva and James as well as he wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a quick hug. "Make sure my dad takes care of you too. I just got you as a mum, I don't want anything to happen to you now."

"Nothing's going to happen kiddo," Amelia blushed, ruffling his hair as she gave him a quick reassuring hug, ignoring the wry look Minerva was giving both her and James. "You hang around the common room with Susan, we'll be back as soon as we can, alright?"

"Alright," Harry nodded at that, looking up to his older self. "You'll be back soon?"

"As soon as I can be." James admitted as his younger self pulled out of the hug with Amelia.

"You two need to go," Minerva said quietly, looking at James and Amelia. "I will inform Susan of what has happened, I'm certain she will want to stay with Harry today to keep him company."

"Definitely," Amelia confirmed. "Thank you." She said with a small nod over to the older witch.

"Go and deal with these... menaces, I expect you both back here when you can be, at least for the evening meal." Minerva explained, looking at them both to make sure they both got the message to return in one piece.

"We'll be here." James nodded back as he grabbed onto Amelia. "We'll see you soon OK Harry?" He asked, looking down at his younger self before waiting for him to nod back, then twisting on the spot and vanishing with a loud crack, startling both Harry and Minerva in the process.

"What was that?" Harry whispered in awe, looking at where his older self and Amelia had just vanished from.

"Apparating, something that should actually be impossible to do, though it would seem your father has as little care for the rules as a Professor as he did as a student." Minerva frowned thoughtfully, inwardly already trying to puzzle out how James Potter had managed to apparate through the most powerful anti-apparition jinxes in the country.

That was something she definitely need to have a firm discussion with him about, if it was a security risk that Albus had left behind, then it was certainly something she would have to deal with before the weekend was out.

"I can't wait to learn that!" Harry grinned eagerly, watching as Minerva groaned at the prospect before she headed off to find Susan and inform her of the morning's events so far.

* * *

**Godric's Hollow**

**West Country**

**England**

"What in Merlin's..." Amelia stammered out as she quickly disengaged herself from James' arm, blinking at the sudden feeling of being pulled along on an apparition as she realised where they were. "Godric's Hollow?"

"It was the quickest way," James admitted as he looked around, frowning at the chaos that was around them with burning houses and destruction littering the roads.

"You do know it's supposed to be impossible to apparate in and out of Hogwarts, right?" Amelia muttered, bemused that not only could James apparently do such a thing, but he would do such a thing in front of Minerva McGonagall without even thinking about it.

"It really isn't, Dumbledore did it all the time." James admitted with a shrug. "The anti-apparition jinx is just like any other jinx, you can break through it with enough determination or counter it with enough power. It's just because everyone's told it's impossible that people don't think they can do it, doubt screws up the determination, if you don't believe you can get through the jinx, you can't."

"Not all of us have power to spare to try something like that, certainly not like you do," Amelia groused as she looked around. "Alastor should be down by the memorial, its where the centre of the attack was."

"Alright," James nodded, getting his bearings for a moment before he headed off in the direction of where he knew the memorial was.

He knew from the various times he'd returned to Godric's Hollow exactly where his parents memorial was, just like he knew exactly where their graves were in the graveyard, and the quickest route to walk up to where their cottage was from there.

It was a route he took every Halloween, taking the time to talk to his parents, as much as he could anyway, and pay his respects to them for everything they'd done.

Ideally he was going to bring his younger self here sometime, that had been the plan anyway, but now he couldn't say anything for certain anymore.

"Alastor."

James looked up curiously at Amelia's voice, recognising Mad-Eye Moody instantly from where he was learnt over a half destroyed pile of rubble that had once been his parents memorial statue.

"Bones, Potter." Alastor said gruffly, not even bothering to turn around from where he was examining the rubble. "It's a shit storm."

"No kidding," James snorted out. "Blasting curses?"

"Probably." Alastor frowned thoughtfully. "Reckon this was him then?" He asked, finally turning around to face the two of them.

"Looks like it," Amelia nodded back, glancing over to James who was looking around curiously.

"What's on your mind Potter?" Alastor grunted over.

"No Dark Mark." James pointed out, gesturing to the sky. "If he'd been here, even just to leave a message like this, he'd have left the Dark Mark so we knew it was him. Especially with this many people killed."

"He's right," Alastor grunted, rapping his staff on the cobbles underfoot. "The bastard would have wanted us to know exactly who it was that'd been here."

"Death Eaters working on their own then," James mused aloud. "Trying to buy favour back with him because they believed he was dead."

"That sounds promising," Alastor muttered. "A group of them, probably not any of them with enough power to cast the Dark Mark."

"Either that or they didn't know how," James muttered thoughtfully. "It was only his inner circle that did, the top arseholes, the ones with the tattoos, it wasn't something they just taught everyone who joined up."

"Kept some of your smarts while you were in hiding then," Alastor growled approvingly at him. "Aye, reckon you've hit the mark there. Probably a dozen or so, none of the inner circle. Low ranking Death Eaters just making trouble to get back in the wanker's good graces."

James snorted at that, grinning in amusement with Mad-Eye's comment. "They hit the only target they could. The Ministry is out of their reach, with all the Aurors you've got loyal to you now, they wouldn't take that risk." He explained, gesturing to Amelia. "You showed 'em what happens when they hit Diagon Alley, don't reckon any of them would have the balls to try that after what you did to Greyback."

"They certainly wouldn't target Hogwarts, not with you there after what you did to Voldemort." Amelia nodded in agreement, spotting Alastor's eye automatically spinning to her as she said his name. "We all know it's a fake name, get used to saying it, I'm not going to cower because of some bad French."

"Actually it's an anagram." James commented off hand, drawing both of their attention back to him. "Tom Marvolo Riddle, it spells out I am Lord Voldemort when you mix up the letters." He explained with a shrug. "Or it could be just bad French and he's a dramatic self-important and grandiose tosser, either way."

Alastor grunted in amusement at that, his twisted smile appearing with approval for James' explanation. "Always knew you had it in you to be the best, good to see I wasn't wrong back then."

"What else have we got here then?" Amelia asked, looking around.

"They hit the statue, the houses, and the cottage." Alastor explained. "Blew everything they could to pieces."

"That's another mark in the low powered idiots box," James commented thoughtfully, continuing on when Alastor turned to him. "No fiendfyre, nothing drastic, nothing destructive, just... well, nothing a fourth or fifth year student couldn't have done in a temper tantrum really."

"You've got a point," Alastor grunted in agreement. "There ain't anything here that's going to tell us much of anything. They tore through the town, targeting anything in their path. It was all about Potter, nothing else."

"I figured as much," James nodded over. "Probably a combination of targeting my name, lashing out because of the new Ministry contracts, and trying to get back into the Dark Wanker's good books." He explained, drawing a snort of laughter from Mad-Eye when he stole his name for Voldemort.

"Aye, I'd say that's about right." Alastor nodded slowly.

"Heard you'd told Dumbledore where to shove his manipulations then?" James asked curiously, looking over at Mad-Eye appraisingly.

"Aye," Alastor said gruffly with a nod. "Always rankled me with his sanctimonious shit about second chances, forgiveness and his greater good waffle."

"You've just summed up every single conversation Dumbledore's ever had." James snorted in amusement, shaking his head at the thought. "Why'd you end up working with him in the first place anyway then? If you didn't like his rules?"

"He was the only one doing anything," Alastor explained with a shrug. "Not like The Ministry were worth shit back then, not with Bagnold in office. You remember her crap, she made Fudge look competent." He said with a snort of derisive laughter.

"At least we're cleaning out The Ministry now." James pointed out.

"Aye, too little, too late." Alastor said gruffly. "Between Bagnold and Crouch, and Albus' bullshit about forgiveness, they hamstrung the Aurors with stunners and knockbacks, might as well have been throwing tickling charms for all the good it did against the scum out there." He groused, hobbling around the destroyed monument. "That war would have been over in less than a year if I'd had my way. Take 'em down hard, and don't let 'em get back up." He said bluntly. "Good to see you finally took that lesson to heart with that that attack on Diagon."

"He won't be getting back up, ever." James nodded back.

Alastor snorted at that, nodding in approval. "It's about time you finally shook off Albus' bullshit." He said with a gruesome smirk. "Got rid of those useless silk robes you always used to prance around in as well, about time you learnt you're a wizard, not one of Malfoy's bloody peacocks." He said with a small nod of approval towards James' more utilitarian wardrobe.

"Anyway, we've got no idea of who, or how many, did this?" Amelia asked, pulling the two of them back on track for why they were all actually here. "Wonderful." She groused sarcastically. "Can I assume the Daily Prophet have already been?"

"You mean the other parasites," Alastor frowned. "Kept 'em away from everything I could, but you know how those buggers are. They'll have the story, ain't no denying it."

"No point in denying it was Death Eaters, anyone with a brain is going to connect the attack on the memorial and the cottage to them." James frowned over. "Well, anyone with a brain who can think for themselves, so maybe a quarter of the country, if that." He commented with a smirk.

"That's being generous," Alastor chuckled in a raspy voice in response to that.

"Probably," James admitted. "I'm surprised they didn't go for the graves."

"Probably didn't see the point," Alastor shrugged. "With you up and walking around, everyone's figured out that the graves are empty now."

"Empty?" Amelia asked, looking at Alastor for an explanation.

"Aye, Albus' plan. Empty caskets, figured people needed somewhere to come and pay their respects. Load of old bollocks if you ask me, word was that whatever destroyed the wanker that night, took out the bodies as well. Not a thing left in the house, 'sides from your kid that is. Least, that was the story before Albus covered it up and organised the graves, but since you're up and walking around, goes to show that old Albus was full of even more shite than he normally is."

"Quite," Amelia said quickly, looking at James to gauge his reaction. "We'll check out the graveyard, just in case, then head up to the cottage."

"Do whatever you want." Alastor grunted, mentally dismissing them as he went back to looking around the rubble with his magical eye.

"Come on," Amelia whispered, grabbing onto James and practically dragging him away towards the graveyard. They walked in silence most of the way, with Amelia only speaking up once she was certain they were alone and entering the graveyard grounds. "Did you know, about the graves?"

"No," James admitted in a choked voice. "I never... I... nobody ever..." He stammered out, automatically setting his pace as he strode through the graveyard to where he'd 'known' his parents were buried.

"Alastor's got a pretty finely honed bullshit detector, if he says he believes the graves are empty, then..."

"I know," James said softly as he came to stand at the foot of the two graves.

They looked just the same as they always did, peaceful and undisturbed, the white marble headstone standing proud with the engraved message in cursive flowing underneath the dates of their deaths.

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." James read aloud in anger as he figured it out, brandishing his wand automatically, it was only Amelia's quick hand on his arm that stopped him from obliterating the gravestone from existence entirely.

"Fucking Dumbledore!" He growled out. "It's another message from him, and I never figured it out." He muttered in anger, staring at the marble headstone and the inscription at the bottom. "The white marble, it's the same as his grave was. The message about death, it's the same crap he pulled with his 'I open at the close' crap to get the resurrection stone when I'd accepted his little fairytale about Voldemort needing to kill me. He probably planned this in case I demanded to see my parents graves before he was ready, it's just another one of his fucking games with my life!"

"You're sure?" Amelia asked quietly, seeing the seething rage in James' eyes.

"Positive," James said firmly. "That white marble, it's exactly the same as Dumbledore's grave was. He must have done this, the inscription, it's all his fucking idea. About me accepting death, going out in a suicidal walk to meet Voldemort, it was his plan all along!" He shouted out. "I'm going to fucking piss on his grave site when I get back to Hogwarts." He hissed.

"Then... then where are the bodies?" Amelia asked.

"Probably the same place as Voldemort's body is," James grunted, flexing his fists tightly as he tried to bleed off some of his anger. "Whatever happened back then, it destroyed the house, destroyed all of their bodies."

"The sacrificial protection?" Amelia asked.

"That," James nodded back. "I'll bet their wands were the only thing left of them in the house. Same as Voldemort's, I know Pettigrew took Voldemort's wand from the cottage. I'll bet galleons to knuts that Dumbledore took my parents wands."

"You think he'd go that far?" Amelia asked softly.

"Almost certainly," James growled out. "I know he got into the cottage after my parents were dead, he'd have had to to get their vault key from them. He could have taken anything he wanted from there and nobody would have even known about it." He explained, pacing around the grave angrily. "I'm going to kill him, I'm going to absolutely kill that thieving old bastard!" He hissed in anger. "He could have ransacked the cottage for anything he wanted before he'd left me on the Dursley's doorsteps, nobody would have known, everyone was too busy celebrating Voldemort's death to care what that old bastard was up to."

"We should go, take a look at the cottage, see if we can find out anything there." Amelia said softly, resting her hand on James' arm to try and calm him down somewhat.

"I've been coming here for years, bringing flowers, talking to the graves, thinking this was where my parents were buried." James admitted angrily. "But it's not, it's just another one of his lies, just like everything else that comes out of his mouth."

"Come on," Amelia said softly, leading James away from the empty graves. "We can discuss what our plans are for Dumbledore later on." She said quietly.

"I've got only one plan for that old bastard, shoving my wand down his throat and casting the strongest blasting curse I've got." James growled out as he thrust his hands into his jeans pockets and stalked off towards the site of where his parents cottage was lying in ruins, feeling angrier than he'd ever been in his entire life.


	24. Chapter 24

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Hufflepuff Common Room**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

It was just after ten in the morning when Susan led her little group through the Hufflepuff passageway and into the common room where Harry was waiting for her, while the group got quite a few strange looks from the various other Hufflepuffs around, any group that mixed a Slytherin and two Gryffindors without arguing was sure to raise a few eyebrows, they were left alone as soon as everyone realised that the group were being led by a Hufflepuff and were heading directly over to Harry Potter.

"Oh Harry!" Hermione whispered, pulling him into a quick hug immediately as they all came together.

"Thanks Hermione," Harry whispered softly as Hermione pulled away with a small blush on her face at her impetuous action.

"How's everything been?" Neville asked, glancing around the unfamiliar common room.

"Actually everyone's been really nice," Harry admitted. "Nobody's really been pushing me to talk or gossip about it, I think when they all realised that I didn't want to talk about it, everyone just decided to leave it alone."

"Hufflepuff is certainly different to the Gryffindor dorms." Hermione noted, thinking that if something like this would have happened to a Gryffindor student, they wouldn't have been able to get a moment's piece without being bugged for answers or having rumours and whispers surrounding them.

"Hufflepuff takes care of their own," Susan said proudly, snagging a couch and pulling Harry down to sit alongside her.

"I really like the common room too," Neville admitted, feeling comfortable in the earthy and subdued room.

"It certainly is a lot more relaxed that the Gryffindor rooms." Hermione admitted. "That much red and gold, it's not a relaxing colour scheme." She explained with a grimace, admiring the calm yellows, tans, and faded black leathers that made up the Hufflepuff common room.

"It's rather light and airy," Daphne commented, sitting down next to Harry on the other side of Susan as she looked around. "Actually really a contrast to the Slytherin common room." She added thoughtfully, mentally comparing the two vastly different spaces.

"I guess you haven't heard anything yet then?" Susan asked hopefully, looking at Harry for an answer.

"Nothing," Harry said, shaking his head. "Dad left with Miss Bones this morning, he woke me up as soon as he found out about it. You?" He asked hopefully.

"Professor McGonagall said she thinks they might be gone all day." Susan admitted with a small shake of her head.

"Probably," Harry sighed. "I'm just... I'm going crazy here, just walking around, sitting and reading, pacing." He explained. "It's driving me nuts."

"We could always go back to that old room that..."

"Harry, everything alright?"

Harry looked up at the interruption, spotting Cedric coming into the common room who was looking at their group dubiously. "Hey Cedric. Yeah, my friends... friends and family I guess." He added, causing Susan and Daphne to give him a small smile. "Just came in for a bit to talk without everyone bugging me out there."

"Family?" Cedric paused, looking around the group curiously. He was pretty sure this was the first time he'd ever seen a pair of Gryffindors in the Hufflepuff common room, let alone a Slytherin with them who seemed to be happy and friendly with the other four in the group.

He recognised the three of them easily enough, they'd all become regulars at the Hufflepuff tables in the Great Hall, visiting every day to sit with Susan and Harry and chat while they enjoyed their meals.

"Oh, right, yeah," Harry grimaced. "My dad, and... mums, it's a thing, I don't really understand."

"Line continuance agreement." Daphne explained with a small smile towards him, giving him a nod to indicate she'd make sure he knew the proper words for it all later on.

"Oh right," Cedric nodded along before smiling at Harry. "Your dad I guess, not you, then Bones and..."

"Daphne Greengrass." Daphne introduced herself properly. "Though I imagine it will be Potter afterwards."

"Right, and you two..." Cedric paused, looking at the two Gryffindors.

"My dad's Neville's godfather." Harry explained. "Neville Longbottom."

"Might as well be family then." Cedric smiled over, recognising the Longbottom name immediately.

"And Hermione, she's a friend." Harry explained with a smile. "She hates studying in the Gryffindor common room because it's too loud up there."

"I can imagine," Cedric chuckled, shaking his head at the strange group of almost family. "Well, welcome to Hufflepuff then." He said with a small laugh. "If you ever need to talk, or want to just fly and get away from stuff, let me know alright?" He asked, looking to Harry again.

"Thanks Cedric." Harry smiled up thankfully.

"Anytime," Cedric grinned as he walked past the back of the couch, leaving the group alone now that he was comfortable they were all friendly, and ruffling Harry's messy hair on his way past.

"What was that about?" Daphne asked, looking to Susan and Harry for an explanation.

"Cedric's sort of taken Harry under his wing." Susan explained with a grin. "He looks after all the first years really, but he's made sure to be around and make sure Harry's settling in alright."

"He seemed nice." Hermione smiled over.

"He's the Hufflepuff seeker, I've heard he's going to be the team captain soon." Susan nodded back.

"How... I mean, you... you're all going to be family?" Hermione asked, trying to wrap her head around what Daphne and Cedric had been talking about. "How does that even work?"

"In a really really really confusing way." Harry admitted with a small laugh as he tried to think of how to explain it all.

"It's my auntie really, she wanted to be in a serious relationship with Professor Potter, actually, they were already dating before we'd even started Hogwarts." Susan explained.

"Don't remind me, I already walked in on them kissing in the kitchen!" Harry exclaimed, making a yuck face and sticking out his tongue.

"Susan and her auntie are the last members of her family line left," Daphne explained. "She wants to continue her family line, but also wants to be married."

"To my dad." Harry interrupted with another stuck out tongue, mentally noting that technically it was to him, his older self, not his real dad.

"My mother has been... closer than friends, shall we say? With Madame Bones since Hogwarts. From what I understand, Madame Bones asked my mother if she was interested in entering the betrothal period with them." Daphne continued on with her explanation, ignoring Harry's face.

"My dad says it's like serious dating in the wizarding world, like something they do before getting engaged." Harry explained with a shrug. "He said it's a pure blood custom or something?"

"He's right," Neville nodded.

"So your dad is dating Susan's aunt, and Daphne's mum, at the same time?" Hermione asked, blinking in confusion as that notion settled in her brain. "And they're both fine with it?"

"And technically I think my mother would be... dating as you call it, Susan's aunt too." Daphne explained thoughtfully. "Mother has never hidden that she's had tendencies to be a witches witch, so this doesn't come as a surprise to me."

"Witches..." Hermione frowned for a second before she got it, making a surprised and open mouthed expression as the realisation settled in. "That... that's going to be really confusing." She admitted.

"Did you expect anything else from the magical world?" Harry asked with a cheeky grin, getting his arms on both sides slapped by his two soon-to-be-sisters sat beside him.

"So, you'll all be family then?" Hermione asked, clarifying this in her head as she put together a little family tree in her mind.

"And Neville would be like an honorary brother." Harry grinned over.

"So you'll still be Susan Bones?" Hermione checked, looking at Susan for confirmation. "But you'll be Daphne Potter?"

"That's the idea. I haven't actually decided yet, but I'll admit, I am leaning in that direction." Daphne admitted with a small nod.

"A Potter in Slytherin, that's going to be a surprise to a lot of people." Neville explained with a small laugh. "Harry's parents were both Gryffindors, and his grandparents too I think, like the Longbottoms."

"I'm a Hufflepuff and proud." Harry said with a wide grin.

"I wish I'd been sorted into Hufflepuff as well." Hermione admitted in a small whisper, not expecting Neville to reply with a whispered. "Me too" back to her.

"Can we go and practice some spells somewhere, or do something, I don't know, anything? Really?" Harry asked hopefully, looking around his friends. "I just need something to keep my brain busy."

"We can practice knockback charms and full body binds." Daphne suggested. "Professor Potter did say that those were going to be this week's work."

"Perfect!" Harry nodded enthusiastically. "I'll grab my book and we can go." He said quickly, standing up and practically running from the couch down the corridor to his dorm room.

"Isn't it... you know, going to be weird? Having Professor Potter as your step-dad?" Hermione whispered, looking at Susan and Daphne now.

"Not really," Susan shrugged. "It wasn't when they were first started doing things together, so..." She trailed off, looking at Daphne.

"Not at all." Daphne shook her head. "Though I will admit, the small urge to call him father just to see his reaction would be quite amusing."

"I think he's more a dad person, father feels a bit stuffy, right?" Susan commented with a grin.

"You have a point," Daphne admitted, thinking of Professor Potter's extremely casual dress sense and teaching style. Father didn't really suit him at all. "Dad." She tried out, smirking to herself as she imagined Professor Potter's face. "That does seem to fit him better." She said with a nod towards Susan.

"Do you think if we do it together we can shock him even more?" Susan grinned back.

"It would certainly be worth trying." Daphne nodded in agreement, returning the grin happily.

"You two are terrible," Hermione interrupted, shaking her head at their antics, utterly unable to contemplate calling Professor Potter anything but Professor Potter.

"My gran wants me to spent Christmas with Professor Potter as well." Neville admitted in a quiet voice. "It's either that, or stay at Hogwarts. She says she's getting too old to take care of me like she used to."

"I'm sorry Neville," Susan whispered over as Harry came back with his spell book in his arms.

"Ready?" Harry asked the four, having got his shoes and over robe on quickly as well so he wouldn't be cold upstairs in the abandoned castle room.

"Ready," Neville said quickly to avoid any awkward silences his confession might have brought.

"Come on then," Harry grinned, waiting until the four of them were standing up before leading the way out of the common room so he could get some fresh air in the company of his friends at last.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon by the time James and Amelia finally floo'ed back to Hogwarts.

After a long and tiresome search of Godric's Hollow for any clues the suspected Death Eaters would have left behind, they'd both apparated to Diagon Alley for some food before stopping in the Magical Mirrors store to pick up James' rather large order.

"That... was a long day." James admitted as he un-shrunk the box containing the various mirrors, putting it aside in the living area of the suite for now until he could deal with it when he had chance later on.

It had been both a long, and emotionally tiring day. Dealing with the revelation that his parents had never been actually buried where he'd been told they were had been a drain on him from the start, but then seeing his parent's cottage, now completely destroyed, had been enough to bring his anger back to boiling point.

He'd been informed by a few Aurors that the family memorial would be repaired and protected against further damage soon enough, but that was a small thing compared to the other emotionally draining things that had hit him today.

"I'm going to take Harry back there on Halloween." James said softly, knowing Amelia would hear him.

"To Godric's Hollow?" Amelia confirmed, waiting for James to nod back at her before she continued. "I think that's a good idea, it might give you both some closure." She said with a reassuring smile.

"Probably not," James shook his head with a sigh. "But he should know." He explained. "I've already told him I'm not going to be like Dumbledore and the others, I won't hide stuff like this from him when he's got a right to know what's going on out there."

"You're going to tell him everything?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Everything," James nodded as he looked around the room to make sure everything was exactly as he left it, idly fingering the Resurrection Stone on it's silver chain around his neck as he checked over his room. "Everything." He confirmed quietly.

"We should find the kids and let them know we're back."

"Easily done," James shrugged, wandering through to the office area and glancing up at the map on the wall, flicking through the names quickly as he ran his finger around the various dots on the map until he came to the group he recognised easily enough. "Second floor, west corridor." He said with a shrug. "Weird, I don't think there's any classrooms down there." He explained with a frown.

"How did you know that?" Amelia asked curiously.

"I'll tell you later, sorry, it's got a notice-me-not over it." James explained quickly as he moved to the door. "Second floor west." He confirmed, holding the door open for Amelia to pass through before he closed it behind them, flicking his wand to it to secure it again after they'd left.

It didn't take them long at all to head down to the second floor and then make their way across the corridors to the west wing of the castle, with Amelia following James who led them directly to an abandoned classroom in a wing of the castle she was reasonably sure hadn't been used since long before even her parents had been at Hogwarts.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Both Amelia and James paused in the doorway, watching proudly as Susan cast the full body-bind curse perfectly, catching Neville with the white light from her wand and freezing him on the spot instantly before he toppled over to the ground.

A few seconds later, Harry quickly jogged over and lifted the curse with a general counter-spell that James had taught him in the weeks before he'd started Hogwarts.

The abandoned classroom the five had apparently commandeered for their own use was a reasonable size, not too big, but spacious enough for the five of them to easily practice casting without the risk of hitting each other accidentally.

The thing that did draw James' eye was a big glass jar on the floor with a very easily recognisable blue fire burning inside of it, keeping the classroom warm and toasty without the risk of an open fire.

"Nicely done." Amelia announced their presence, applauding lightly and startling the five in the room who hadn't realised they'd had an audience for their impromptu practice sessions.

"You'll probably want to practice a cushioning charm as well," James smiled over, flicking his wand out to the floor where Neville had fallen, sending a silent but high powered cushioning charm to the floor there to break their falls.

"Cushioning charm?" Hermione asked quickly before anyone else could say anything.

"Molliare," James confirmed. "It's a simple point and cast. Mul-lee-AR-ray." He enunciated so that the group could practice the spell. "It's in your charms books, probably fourth or fifth year I think. You can grab a copy from the library easily enough, or Harry can take one of the books from my office, either way."

"Fourth year if I remember rightly," Amelia added in with a sigh at how James really didn't care about teaching the children more advanced magic than they were supposed to be learning.

"Should be taught in first year, half the chairs in this place could do with a decent cushioning charm." James explained with a smirk. "How long have you five been practising in here then?"

"Only since Wednesday," Harry grinned over. "Is... is everything alright then?"

"I wouldn't say alright, but we're both fine." James admitted. "There wasn't even any casting, no bad guys, nothing, just investigating."

"How bad was it?" Susan asked quietly.

"Pretty bad," Amelia admitted, looking over at her niece. "The town will be rebuilt soon enough, but there was a lot of damage and a lot of people were hurt."

"I take it the bluebell flames are yours?" James asked, looking at Hermione now with a smile, remembering how well Hermione had taken to the blue bell flame charm in her first year in his time-line. "Nicely done, I will be teaching you all warming charms as it gets colder though, much easier than carrying those around in jars."

"Thank you Professor." Hermione smiled over bashfully, happy to receive praise from someone that was quickly becoming her favourite teacher.

"Actually, do you mind if we talk for a second? While I've got you here, it's nothing bad, you're not in any trouble, promise." James smiled reassuringly over, indicating for Hermione to follow him outside.

"So, what else have you all been practising today then?" Amelia asked curiously, looking to her niece then around the rather unusual group.

"The knockback jinx earlier, but we all got it pretty quickly as well." Susan explained with a proud smile at her aunt.

"I'm certain you would have been happy for a cushioning charm when you were practising that one as well," Amelia chuckled, knowing that practising jinxes like that often left students with rather bruised backsides after being tossed on the floor more than a few times.

"Definitely," Susan nodded eagerly at that. "We'll all be adding the cushioning charm to our list of charms to practice."

"And what else is on your list so far?" Amelia asked, curious what sort of charms this little group had put together.

"We all added ones we wanted to learn." Susan explained, moving to a desk by the side of the room and picking up a piece of parchment. "Me and Harry are going to try to teach everyone Glacius soon, then there's Reparo, Avis, Metelojinx and Scourgify."

"A rather thorough list," Amelia nodded happily, content that there wasn't anything too dangerous on their list for now. "I would however recommend speaking to Professor Potter if you are planning on learning anything more advanced than these four, he will be able to advise you on any safety concerns he has and what counter curses you should be practising first." She explained. "And don't try to learn too much at once, remember to focus on the spells you're being taught in lessons as well, practice those so you don't get left behind as the year goes on."

"Of course," Susan nodded eagerly, noting that Neville was more than happy to nod along in agreement with her as well.

"It's nice to see you doing so well, and making good friends as well." Amelia admitted, causing Susan to break out into a wide and proud smile.

* * *

"Is... is everything alright Professor?" Hermione asked hesitantly as she followed Professor Potter out of their classroom and into the corridor outside.

"Everything's fine, really." James chuckled to himself at Hermione's nervous behaviour. "I just wanted you to know, I know your birthday is coming up." He explained, causing Hermione to squeak in embarrassment before slapping her hand over her mouth. "Harry already asked me about getting you a present, but I wanted to ask, would you like me to hand over a letter to your parents before your birthday? I'm going to be down that way anyway, so I can easily drop in if you'd like me to."

"You... you'd do that for me?" Hermione whispered, her eyes going wide at what she was being offered.

"Of course," James smiled down, comfortably leaning against the corridor wall and crossing his arms.

"My mum and dad... when... when Professor McGonagall told them about Hogwarts, she said I'd be able to write using the school owls whenever I wanted, but nothing about how they were supposed to write back." Hermione admitted in a small voice. "Everyone I asked just looked at me like I was stupid. I was going to ask one of the professors, but with everything that's been happening..." She trailed off awkwardly.

"Most families have owls of their own to use at home, you could have your own owl if you wanted, like Harry has Hedwig. She could spend time between here and your parents, carrying letters and parcels between you both whenever you needed." James explained.

"Professor McGonagall did say I could bring an owl or a cat or a toad, but I really wanted a cat, but my mum said I should wait and see how I did at Hogwarts first before getting one." Hermione explained. "We never had pets at home, and I don't think mum and dad really liked the idea of having one around."

"That's... that's pretty reasonable actually." James admitted, coming from a muggle household, that actually seemed like common sense really, so it was clearly something nobody in the magical world would ever have thought of. "Well, if you give me their address and any letter you want me to pass on, I'm heading out tomorrow so I can drop one off if you'd like?" He said with a smile, causing Hermione to beam up at him like he'd offered her the world.

"Thank you Professor, I'll do that." Hermione said quickly, nodding and giving him a toothy smile at the same time, causing her wild hair to bounce all over the place.

"I'll be in my office all evening, just drop it off whenever you want." James said with a small laugh at Hermione's enthusiasm. "If you'd write a quick note to them so they know I am who I say I am, that would probably help make things go quicker as well." He admitted with a grin.

"Oh, oh yes, of course Professor." Hermione nodded eagerly, not having thought of that either.

"Go on then, you can get back to your practising," James chuckled, watching as Hermione quickly darted back into the room and immediately went for her bag to pull out some parchment and a quill to start writing. "Everything OK in here then?" He asked, looking around the room to where Amelia had apparently just been chatting with the group while he made his offer to Hermione.

"They're fine," Amelia nodded over. "They've got a list of charms they're looking to practice, nothing too advanced and nothing dangerous. Knowing how far Harry and Susan are ahead, I'd be comfortable leaving them to their practice."

"That sounds good to me," James smiled back. "The cushioning charm should last for a couple of hours, so you'll be fine for practising your spells over there." He explained, indicating the area where he'd cast it. "We should probably head up and let Minerva know we're back."

"That's The Headmistress or Professor McGonagall to you five." Amelia said quickly.

"Right, what she said." James grimaced at his slip up. "Anyway, you all carry on having fun." He explained with a wave, heading towards the doorway and following Amelia out, completely missing the glance between Daphne and Susan as everyone else said their goodbyes.

"Thanks dad," Both Susan and Daphne added in at the last second, causing James to nearly stumble in the doorway in shock as what he'd heard registered in his brain, causing him to turn around in surprise before Amelia quickly tugged him out of the doorway to continue on where they'd been walking, both hearing the laughter of the group behind them.

"Did she... did they just..." James stammered out as he caught up to Amelia and continued walking alongside her. "Was that Susan and Daphne?"

"I'm sure from their laughter, today they meant it more as a prank, but I'm certain that those two will be more than happy for you to fulfil that role to them properly." Amelia explained before giving James a wry smile. "Perhaps now you know how I felt when Harry practically called me his mum in front of Minerva this morning."

"I'd forgotten about that," James admitted with a wince. "You think she's going to be asking us questions then?"

"I'd be surprised if she didn't." Amelia said as she led the way back to the main stairway. "Very surprised actually." She explained with a dry laugh as the two of them made their way up towards the headmistresses office.

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

**Wiltshire**

Lucius Malfoy had only just finished his evening meal and retreated to his private study when he felt the notification of his private floo flare up. He had his wand in his hand ready as he sat down on his usual regal chair by the fireplace, and flicked his wand towards it to allow the connection.

"Jacob," Lucius raised a lone elegant eyebrow in recognition as Jacob Nott stepped through the fireplace, his dark sapphire robes flaring out as he stalked out of the fire and into Lucius' private room. "I wasn't expecting you to contact me."

"I tried last night," Jacob Nott said bluntly. "You didn't answer."

"I had other duties that required my attention." Lucius said simply, dismissing Nott's glare entirely. "What can I do for you this evening then?"

"The Dark Lord has returned." Nott said simply. "We are gathering the true believers to be ready for him."

Lucius raised an eyebrow at this, but casually made sure his wand was at the ready for anything stupid that Jacob was about to do. "I would assume, that last night's attack on Godric's Hollow was orchestrated by you then?"

"We made our message heard," Nott smirked. "Wiped that Blood Traitor Potter's pathetic little house off the face of the country."

"I see," Lucius sighed, rubbing his forehead. Idly amused that Nott was calling the Pure Blood a 'blood traitor' while praising a Half Blood master.

"Destroyed that disgusting memorial dedicated to his mudblood bitch and their mongrel child as well." Nott sneered out. "I destroyed it myself."

"And who else was with you for this little campaign?" Lucius asked calmly.

"Goyle, Yaxley, Flint, Avery and Jugson." Nott announced proudly. "We wanted you there too, to cast the Dark Mark and let everyone know what had happened."

"I was detained on other matters," Lucius shook his head, casually making a mental note of the names to make a further deal with Potter. This was information he would no doubt want, and be willing to barter for.

"Has the Dark Lord contacted you yet?" Nott asked curiously.

"No," Lucius answered honestly. "Though I had not expected him to until he is ready to receive us."

"He has returned, and will lead us all to our rightful place as rulers over the filth that has infected our world." Nott grinned proudly.

"And the... rumours about his true name?" Lucius asked. It was useless to ask if Nott had been reading the regular articles in the Daily Prophet about Tom Riddle and his real history, as he knew very well that Jacob, much like his son, were hardly academic. Where as the young Theodore had been taught to at least read by his step-mother, Jacob showed no interest at all in the printed word or the knowledge held within.

"Lies spread by blood traitors and filth." Nott hissed dismissively. "I can't believe they've got that blood traitor teaching my son." He growled out.

"James Potter, you think you could confront him then?" Lucius asked with a smirk, knowing the answer too well. If Jacob thought he had any delusions of defeating someone like Potter, he'd have attacked Hogwarts instead of Godric's Hollow last night.

"I will leave that pleasure to the Dark Lord," Nott sneered back.

"Of course," Lucius smirked and gave Jacob a small nod of acknowledgement. "However, I am working on regaining a small measure of influence at The Ministry, that is where my focus will be for the foreseeable future."

"Yaxley told me about those damned contracts." Nott frowned, sitting in the chair Lucius graciously offered.

"Yes, I'm rather surprised that they were pushed through so easily." Lucius lied, shaking his head in dismay. It was obvious how Bones had pushed them through, with Cornelius being terrified of Riddle, it would have been oh so easy to get him to agree to anything, as long as it kept him on Bones and Potter's good side.

"Yaxley reckons they can't be broken without people resigning." Nott frowned over.

"He's correct," Lucius nodded patiently. "The contracts enforce everyone who signed them to adhere to the law, anybody working for The Ministry is magically obligated to be on their side, not with... The Dark Lord, or with Dumbledore." He explained, hoping that Jacob didn't catch his hesitation over Riddle's title.

"The Ministry isn't under Dumbledore's banner then?" Nott asked curiously, the surprise at this visible on his face.

"No, the rumours of Dumbledore's expulsion from Hogwarts, and society in general, are surprisingly factual in this case." Lucius confirmed with an elegant nod. "I've heard he hasn't actually been seen in public since being evicted in disgrace from the school."

"Well, that's something." Nott sneered happily at that piece of news.

"Hardly," Lucius shook his head. "Where the old fool allowed the dark families free reign with impunity, James Potter is an entirely different animal. I'm sure you will have noticed the light families flocking to his side already."

"What do you mean?" Nott demanded, ignoring the fact that he didn't know what impunity meant.

"Albus Dumbledore was singularly ineffective in his campaign against the dark families. He allowed us free reign to act however we liked, enact whatever laws we wanted, without reprisals or action against us." Lucius pointed out, resisting the urge to roll his eyes and speak in single syllable words. "Despite his constant and abysmal talks about being the Leader of the Light, he never once attempted to pass laws protecting the mud-bloods or their rights. Neither did he oppose or block any of the darker laws we paid to have brought before The Ministry."

"So?" Nott sneered over.

"Potter, is none of those things." Lucius pointed out. "He singularly defeated Dumbledore, on his own." He said, lifting up a single finger. "He rousted him from the school, expelled him from his positions, all in a single night." He explained. "He then defended himself successfully against the Dark Lord, destroying his current form, and forcing him to flee the school." He said, holding up a second finger. "And in the following week, not only defended Diagon Alley from an attack, but killed Greyback in the attack too, leading to the confirmation that the Aurors have now been given free reign to use fatal casts in the defence of The Ministry's laws." He said the last, holding up a third finger. "Do not make the same mistake, if you cross Potter and his associates, they will not be casting their usual and pathetic stunning spells and leaving you to be revived so you can be bought out of the holding cells before trial. They will kill you, without hesitation or mercy."

"The blood traitors never killed before," Nott pointed out.

"No, they were acting under Dumbledore's orders. Stun and incapacitate only." Lucius explained. "Between him and the previous Minister, they managed to convince the Aurors the same, which was one of the many reasons they were so singularly ineffective in combat during the war. I've since found out that those rules have been repealed now. The Aurors, like Potter, will cast to kill on sight."

"That..."

"Changes things." Lucius nodded slowly. "It is not a simple matter anymore. Now you are risking your life, the life of your blood line, when you act. If you are caught, and you miraculously survive the confrontation, they will raid your home, ransack it for every scrap of evidence they need, then leave you to rot in Azkaban without a second thought. Bones cannot be bought, and Fudge is very clearly on side with Potter now. With Macnair already in Azkaban and now those contracts, we don't have a single person in the Aurors that would protect any of us." He explained, appealing to the selfish nature in Nott. "The Aurors, and Potter in particular, need only the flimsiest excuse now to go after us all, cutting us down without hesitation. And last night, you gave them that excuse." He explained bluntly, seeing the blood drain from Nott's face. "I see you realise the situation you are now in."

"They wouldn't..."

"They would." Lucius held his hand up, interrupting Jacob firmly. "With Potter leading them, they would kill us all without hesitation. Think back to all the families we attacked, killed, the blood traitors we cleansed without having to worry about the Aurors or the Ministry's laughable defence?" He pointed out. "Bones lost her family, very much like Potter. Between them, they have enough reasons alone to see us all quite unequivocally dead. Working together, they have more than enough reason, skill, and power to see it through."

"The mud-bloods and blood traitors never fought back like that before." Nott growled angrily, frustrated at what he was being told.

"As I said, under Dumbledore's banner, they were ordered not to kill in retaliation. Dumbledore's pathetic nature of forgiveness and second chances always operated in our favour, but Potter doesn't believe in any of that." Lucius explained. "I know Bones never followed Dumbledore herself, and Potter is an entirely different case. He will kill you for what you did last night, make no mistake in that. It is just a matter of when."

"He wouldn't dare!" Nott sneered out with bravado.

"He is a pure blood, a powerful one at that, defending his home that you destroyed." Lucius sneered back. "Would you expect anything less than a destructive and suitably fatal retaliation from any old pure blood family?" He asked, quirking his lips up in a small smirk when Jacob paled even further. "He's powerful enough to curse Dumbledore without retaliation, do you think he won't come after you next now? Make your own mind up, though like the others, I recommend putting your affairs in order before seeking out the Potters, I firmly believe your family will not have the chance afterwards."

Nott didn't reply to that, Lucius simply watched as he stood up, pacing around the room for a moment before he stalked to the fireplace and tossed in some floo powder, vanishing from the fireplace with a growled mutter of his home.

That had been... somewhere between amusing and informative. Lucius smirked to himself as he flicked his wand to the fireplace, closing down the floo connection for now as he stood up from his chair and made his way out of his private study to head downstairs to see his wife.

There were things he needed to discuss, and to see if Narcissa could once again put him in contact with Potter to see how valuable this information would be to him.

So far he'd spent the week researching the Potter family line, and had confirmed his suspicions that they did in fact stem from the Peverell family line, confirming what Potter had told him when they'd met, though frustratingly he'd been unable to find any direct link between the line of the Peverell's that joined the Potters, and the noble Slytherin family.

In fact, the only branch of the Slytherin family he'd been able to find at all that had more or less survived to the modern era, branched out in the sixteen hundreds to the Gaunt family, who had apparently all died off over fifty years ago.

That led to a lot more questions, especially about Riddle's claims that he was directly related to the Slytherin line, as so far he hadn't been able to trace anything about the Riddle family at all. It was as if someone had obliterated every record of them from existence.

The fact that there was no direct link between the Slytherin blood line and both the Potters and Riddles, left him with the rather curious question of how both Riddle and Potter spoke Parseltongue, when it was supposedly a unique magical trait of the Slytherin bloodline.

There clearly must be a link somewhere, if the senior Potter had the gift, then it was entirely likely the boy did too, which left him wondering exactly how long the Potter's had been able to hide the gift from becoming public knowledge.

He had amused himself several times over the week as he pictured the reactions around the magical community if they were to find out that their supposed saviour, James Potter, spoke Parseltongue.

The fallout and chaos would be rather delicious to watch, and would no doubt lead to a decline in Potter's popularity and reputation, however it would not affect his magical power or the no doubt vicious and violent revenge that would follow should he take that route. For now it was a piece of information he was more than happy to keep to himself to be used later on, if needed.

In his rather precarious position currently, information about the larger players on the board was more important than gold, and he was hording everything he could get his hands on.


	25. Chapter 25

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Sunday, 15th September**

**Heathgate Road**

**Golders Green**

**London**

James paused mid step as he came to a stop outside number nineteen Heathgate road, double checking the address on the parchment he had in his hand before flicking his attention back up to the house.

It was certainly an affluent area, the houses and cars around the street were definitely on the higher price side from what he could see. The house in front of him definitely one of the larger ones on the road, like all the others, it was detached and separated by a decent margin from it's neighbour, with a hedgerow surrounding it's front garden and a neat pebble path leading up from a white gate towards the front door.

It was a three story house, and quite large for only a three person family, well, he was assuming a three person family anyway. Hermione had never mentioned any brothers or sisters that he knew of, so he was pretty sure it was just her and her parents. He hadn't had any idea that Hermione's family were this well off, but their house certainly spoke of a comfortable, probably even wealthy family.

Pushing through the gate he took a moment to glance over at the climbing roses that were growing up trellises on either side of the house, away from perfectly tended gardens that led up to a nicely painted black front door.

Knocking loudly on the door he happily waited, looking around the garden and smiling, imagining a young Hermione playing out on the grass as she was growing up, sitting under the willow tree in the sun and reading without a care in the world.

After a few moments he heard the latch on the door being released before it was pulled open, leaving him face to face with a man about ten years older than him, with chestnut brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard.

"Yes? Can I help you?" The man asked, obviously curious about why his Sunday morning was being interrupted like this.

"Mr Granger?" James asked, double checking he was in the right place. The man was wearing a comfortable, if a bit baggy, wool jumper along with simple grey trousers and a pair of slippers on his feet and was now looking at him with a curious expression on his face.

"Yes?" The man hesitated. Probably ready to slam the door shut if he turned out to be a door to door salesman or something similar.

"I'm from Hogwarts." James explained, not even bothering to check around to make sure they weren't overheard. "I have... um..." He paused, fishing through his coat pocket for the parchment Hermione had written. "Here." He explained, passing the note over.

"Hermione, is she..."

"She's fine," James smiled reassuringly as Mr Granger took the note. "Really, nothing official, I'm just paying a visit on my way through. Hermione's become good friends with my son, so I said I'd drop by while I was around." He explained, retrieving the letter from his inside pocket. "I think it's easier, and definitely quicker than an owl." He explained with a chuckle as he handed over the letter in question.

"You... you would be Professor Potter then?" Mr Granger asked, reading through Hermione's introduction note quickly, easily recognising his daughter's handwriting and prose, even though the parchment and ink felt archaic to him.

"Call me James," James smiled over. "I said I'd be willing to ferry back any letters or anything you had for her if you wanted." James made the offer easily enough. "Like I said, my son's become good friends with her, so we wanted to give her a good birthday on Thursday."

"Come in, come in!" Mr Granger smiled widely, pushing open the door to allow James through. "I... I hadn't expected anyone to come by and offer to take letters back to the school. The other professor didn't mention anything like that."

"With the kids being friends, it's an easy thing to do." James explained with a casual smile as he walked through to the entrance lobby of the house, noticing the immaculately clean beige carpet that led through to the other rooms of the house. "I'll take off my boots, I was out on the castle grounds earlier, so there's no telling what's on these." He explained with a chuckle, leaning down and unzipping the side of his heavy leather boots before slowly unlacing them.

"Ah, thank you." Mr Granger paused, not expecting the polite offer from the man when the other professor had simply walked through their house without a care for any marks her shoes had left on their carpeting.

"Not a problem," James shrugged as he slid off his boots, making sure they were clean as he tucked them together neatly by the side of the front door.

"Please, come through." Mr Granger nodded, gesturing for James to follow him through the living room of the house and out to the kitchen. "I'd offer you a drink, tea or coffee, though the other professor..."

"A coffee would be amazing right now," James grinned over.

"Oh?" Mr Granger paused. "When the other professor didn't accept, she mentioned something about pumpkin juice and some other drinks we didn't recognise?"

"Both tea and coffee are fine, I'm a coffee drinker personally though." James said by way of explanation as he followed Mr Granger into the kitchen.

"That makes things easier," Mr Granger chuckled. "Take a seat while I put the percolator on." He said, indicating to the breakfast table in the kitchen. "I'll just go and let my wife know you're here, I know she'll be excited to speak to you as well."

"Sure," James smiled over, taking a seat at the breakfast table and looking around as Mr Granger fiddled with the coffee maker for a moment before he left the kitchen, leaving James alone to look around and admire the sleek white and metallic surfaces.

It was definitely a muggle kitchen, and extremely clean and tidy. With electronic appliances scattered around and clean white marble work surfaces underneath shining metal and glass cupboard doors.

He was casually looking around and admiring the smell coming from the coffee peculator when he spotted Hermione's father coming through and helping his wife hobble from the living room with a thick white plaster cast covering the bottom half of her left leg, she was using a crutch in one of her arms as she lent on her husband for support with her other.

"What happened?" James asked quickly, standing up quickly from the table and sliding out the chair he'd been sat on to make it easier for Mr Granger to manoeuvre his wife around into.

"A fall," Mr Granger explained with a nod of thanks as he helped his wife down into the chair. "Just last week."

"Just caught my foot on the stairs wrong," Mrs Granger explained. "Ended up at the foot of the stairs with a broken leg and a twisted hip."

"Owch," James winced, eyeing the plaster cast covered limb. "Are you OK though?"

"I'll be fine," Mrs Granger smiled up. "Thank you for your concern though. Professor... Potter was it?"

"James," James smiled, holding his hand out for Mrs Granger to shake.

"Celeste then," Mrs Granger smiled back, taking the offered hand and shaking it. "My husband, Mercutio."

"Mark," Mr Granger clarified with a small smile. "I suppose you don't have to worry about things like this happening to you then?" He asked, motioning to Celeste's broken leg as he headed back over to check on the progress of the coffee.

"I've broken a few things in my time," James chuckled, still standing comfortably in the kitchen. "Typically they're pretty easy to fix up though, really it only takes..." He trailed off thoughtfully. "Actually." He muttered, looking through his coat pockets and hunting through for his potions vials. "Sorry, I'm normally more organised than this, just got a lot in here today." He explained with an embarrassed chuckle as he slid out the box containing the mirror for the Granger house and put it on the breakfast table before returning to his pocket, sliding his arm deep inside to hunt around for his emergency stash of potions.

Celeste Granger however was more than amused by watching James retrieving things from his pockets that logic, and the laws of physics, said certainly shouldn't fit inside them. "That must be handy." She said with a wry chuckle as she watched James bring out a thick black leather roll that tinkled and clanked as he placed it on the table.

"Oh definitely," James grinned over. "Though actually, I'm pretty sure I've lost some things in here over the years, I can't even reach down to the bottom of them any more, so I've got no idea what's really down there." He said with a rueful smile. "Probably my old keys somewhere, and tons of rubbish, it's like behind the couch cushions, everything ends up down there." He explained with a laugh.

"I'm certain Hermione would find a use for that sort of thing." Celeste said knowingly.

"Probably on her trunk and bags so she can fit more books inside," James chuckled back automatically.

"Ah, you do know our daughter well then." Celeste smiled up in amusement.

"Here," Mark smiled as he came over, leaving the folded letter from Hermione on the table for Celeste to read first. "From Hermione. The Professor said he'd be kind enough to take a letter back with him if we wanted."

"You would?" Celeste beamed over, watching as James happily nodded while he unrolled the black leather pouch he'd retrieved from his pockets, exposing a long line of small vials with liquids in that shimmered with all the colours of the rainbow. "Oh my goodness, what on earth are those?" She asked in amazement.

"Potions, elixirs, that sort of thing. Well, some of them are half potions and half alchemy really. I buy them in bulk, whatever I can't mix up myself anyway." James happily explained as he ran his fingers down the various potion vials. "I normally keep a pretty good stock on me, just for emergencies. Never know when something's going to come in handy." He explained with a chuckle as he came down to the pale purple one he'd been looking for and slid it out of it's little pouch. "General all purpose fix-me-up, with a skelegrow and organ regrower base and just a touch of pepperup." He explained, placing the vial in front of Celeste. "Sorry I don't have any skelegrow on it's own, it's easier to keep blended potions around that cover multiple things, rather than just one for every little thing."

"You... you mean..." Celeste whispered, looking at the vial in amazement.

"It'll fix a broken bone easily enough, a sprain too, along with any bruising you've got." James nodded happily. "I've used it to treat shattered fingers before, broken arms, regrow a punctured lung, things like that'd take a few days of rest though. A simple break and a sprain won't be an issue."

"Are... are we allowed to use this?" Celeste asked as she took the purple vial and stared at it in amusement, looking up to see her husband watching with interest.

"There's no laws against it," James shrugged as he rolled his potions kit back up. "You might want to have a drink ready to chase it down though, like a lot of these, they're not the nicest things to taste." He explained, tapping on his rolled up potions.

"I... thank you." Celeste beamed up at him.

"No problem," James shrugged. "Hermione will learn to brew most of the parts of that one around her fourth year, it's a pretty simple one really, knowing her, she'd probably be able to brew it by this time next year actually." He said with a chuckle, remembering 'his' Hermione brewing complicated polyjuice in their second year.

"Here you go," Mark said with a smile, bringing over three mugs of coffee on a tray, along with a bowl of sugar cubes and a small jug of milk. "How is Hermione performing then?"

"She's doing great, I did see her practising charms yesterday in a group of friends. She's made good friends with my son, he's in the same year as her, along with three others." James explained. "She's doing great with charms and jinxes so far, I haven't checked on her potions and other subjects, but I haven't heard that she's had any problems so far."

"She's made friends then?" Mark asked hopefully.

"Oh yes," James nodded happily, watching as Celeste was still staring at the potion vial curiously. "Her and Harry, Susan, Daphne and Neville. I've seen them all together in the library a few times now." He explained with a small laugh.

"That's good to hear," Mark smiled as he arranged the mugs of coffee and placed one in front of each of them. "Hermione had some troubles fitting in at school before, so to hear she's got friends now is all we really wanted for her."

"I'm sure she says more in her letter," James nodded, accepting the mug of coffee with a nod of thanks. "And I do have her birthday present here, though it probably requires a bit of an explanation." He said, tapping the box he'd placed on the breakfast table with his finger. "It's what we call a two way mirror."

"A two way mirror?" Mark asked, looking at the box with curiosity now, overriding his first question about why the professor would have bought their daughter a birthday gift.

"A communicating mirror, you would have one, and Hermione has one. You can see and talk to each other through the mirrors like a phone." James explained. "My son has one, his friends are all going to have one as well. I thought it was a bit awkward with them all having one and Hermione being left out."

"We... we could see Hermione through this mirror?" Celeste asked hopefully.

"And talk to her too," James nodded. "I did have to make the one for you receive only though, so you won't be able to call out from it, sorry about that, but you can answer the mirror easily enough."

"That... that is actually the most useful piece of magic I've heard of so far." Mark nodded, happily impressed by what he was hearing. "Magic mirrors have their place in folklore of course, stories and such with an evil queen and cursed apples, but I never thought they'd actually be something real that started the stories off."

"I was planning on giving Hermione her mirror after the evening meal on Thursday, so if we arrange for a time, maybe around seven? Then she can use the mirror and speak to you both straight away." James asked.

"That sounds perfect," Celeste smiled widely at him. "We'd thought we were going to miss her birthday this year. It's her first one away from home, and since we couldn't send presents or anything, I was just afraid it was going to be such a lonely day for her." She explained. "That other Professor, she seemed to think it would be fine for us to just drop Hermione off on the train and then expect us to forget about her for the rest of the year."

"There's a few other ways she could do something like this. Like enchanted books you could both write in, one displays copies of the other, they're pretty popular with kids writing to parents, but she won't be learning that sort of enchanting until sixth and seventh year really." He explained, remembering the lessons on enchanting where Hermione had learnt about the charms and how to create her enchanted bag. "I'll take any presents back you want, and make sure she gets them on Thursday." James offered, receiving thankful smiles from both Granger parents in response.

"How... how long will this take to work?" Celeste asked, holding the purple potions vial in her hand.

"Depends on how bad the break is," James answered honestly. "Probably less than an hour for a simple break, less if it's only a fracture or something like that, the sprain and anything else should go almost immediately, but anything more serious will fix itself while you sleep it off tonight."

"And it's perfectly safe for me to use?" Celeste asked.

"I wouldn't have given it to you otherwise." James explained with a smile, watching as Celeste uncorked the vial and took a tentative sniff, wrinkling her nose immediately at the smell.

"I did warn you they weren't the nicest of things," James explained with a chuckle at her reaction.

"Well, down the hatch then." Celeste said, taking a breath for bravery first before she upended the vial in her mouth, swallowing the slimy purple liquid down as quickly as she could before she gagged on the taste and started scraping her tongue with her teeth.

"I know, horrible things." James laughed, sliding her coffee forward in front of her to remind her that it was there. "One of my friends keeps trying to make them taste better, but anything like sugar or a sweetener like honey, ruins the potion completely." He explained as Celeste took a mouthful of her coffee to try and wash out the taste from her mouth.

"That tasted like old socks and mould," Celeste gagged, still trying to scrape the taste off of her tongue with her mouth, causing Mark to laugh quietly at her response.

"Like I said," James chuckled. "Actually I'm pretty sure they make them taste that bad on purpose, some of them can be pretty addictive, so making them taste horrible is the easiest way to stop people from using them too much."

"A sensible precaution," Mark laughed with a nod of agreement.

"Let me show you these mirrors, take your mind off of the potion." James smiled, sliding over the box he'd brought out and taking the lid off, exposing the two mirrors inside. "Do you mind?" He asked, retrieving his wand from his pocket.

"Oh, not at all." Mark nodded over, watching the wand with curiosity as James took the larger of the two small mirrors from the box and laid it down on the kitchen floor, a flick of his wand and the mirror quickly grew and expanded out until it was nearly four feet wide and three feet tall.

"There's an unbreakable charm on it, along with a cleaning charm. They'll last years, so you don't need to be worried about it." James explained as he lifted up the mirror, sliding it over to lean against the wall before he returned to the box and brought out the other mirror. It was only a simple compact mirror the same ratio as the larger ones, with a soft brown leather back to make it more comfortable to hold and bevelled edges to round off the sharp corners. "This is the one for Hermione." He explained, holding out the mirror for Mark to take.

"You say this is... unbreakable, like that one?" Mark asked curiously as he examined the mirror in question.

"I did the charms myself," James nodded back. "So if you hold it and say 'Grangers'..." He trailed off, indicating for Mark to try it.

"Grangers." Mark spoke aloud, holding the mirror to watch as it's surface fogged over before shimmering and changing to the view of their kitchen that was clearly coming from the larger mirror.

A glance over to the larger mirror showed it was displaying the view from the smaller mirror, just enlarged for the size, showing Mark's face as he stared at the mirror in amazement before handing it over to Celeste for her to examine.

"This... this is amazing." Mark whispered, heading over to the larger mirror and crouching down by it to examine it more closely, staring at how clearly he could see through to where his wife was looking out of the mirror at him.

"I can hear you," Celeste said quickly, looking over at James. "Through the mirror."

"These are fantastic," Mark grinned widely, watching his wife's amazement in the mirror. "It's like... like some sort of viewscreen from Star Trek!"

"It's probably best keeping that one somewhere out of the way, that way if you're using it to talk to Hermione and someone else comes around..." James trailed off with a shrug.

"Yes, yes of course." Mark nodded, standing up from the mirror. "Keeping magic a secret of course."

"How do I..." Celeste asked, looking at the mirror that was still displaying their kitchen.

"Press your thumb to it and say 'off'." James explained, watching as Celeste followed his instructions and the mirror went back to simply being another mirror in her hand.

"These... I... you can't imagine how much this means to us." Celeste said softly, looking from the mirror then over to James in amazement. "I've missed having Hermione around so much."

"Harry and Hermione are pretty close, he wanted to get her something when he found out about her birthday, but I knew about these and it seemed like something that would make a good birthday present for her." James explained with a smile. "She'll be able to use either of them to call Harry or any of her other friends as well, any time she wants. So she'd be able to stay in touch over the holidays."

"Ah, yes, Christmas of course." Mark smiled, coming to sit back down at the table. "Do you live near by then, I know you said you were in the area but..." He trailed off, not knowing exactly what 'in the area' meant to a magical person.

"Oh, no, my place is... Honley I think, somewhere in West Yorkshire. Pretty sure it's near Huddersfield, somewhere maybe?" James explained with a shrug. "I was in London dropping off some things, so it was easy enough to come by."

"You don't sound like a Yorkshire lad," Mark said with a small laugh, getting more comfortable with James than he'd ever had felt with that stern female magical professor in the house.

"Actually I grew up just over in Surrey," James chuckled, taking a sip of his black coffee before wincing at the bitter flavour and adding two cubes of sugar to it and stirring. "It's a family home up there really, I just inherited it."

"So, what do you teach then?" Celeste asked curiously.

"Defence," James nodded thoughtfully. "Defence against the Dark Arts, but just calling it Defence covers more of it. Charms and curses, that sort of thing. Shields and how to protect yourself against magic and magical creatures like imps and dragons, werewolves and vampires, those sorts of critters."

"Sounds exciting," Mark nodded, eager to know more.

"I think Hermione actually prefers charms and transfiguration," James explained with a small laugh. "My class tends to be a bit physical from time to time."

"Ah, I can see that, Hermione has never really been one for physical exertion." Mark chuckled in agreement.

"She had her first flying lesson on Thursday, I don't think she liked it much." James admitted with a laugh. "Brooms, flying on brooms." He clarified when the two Grangers looked at him for an explanation.

"Oh my," Celeste chuckled, covering up her mouth with her hand. "No, Hermione never was any good with heights."

"That's what I figured," James nodded in agreement.

"We should read that letter of hers before we reply, you don't mind waiting around while we put together something for you to take back with you do you?" Celeste asked hopefully. "We had some gifts for Hermione that we'd bought earlier in the year, but we never expected this."

"Not at all," James smiled, shaking his head. "I was going to head back home today, but half the place is in chaos at the moment while one of my friends is setting up a small lagoon in the basement." He explained with a small laugh.

"A... a lagoon?" Mark asked in amusement.

"A tropical swimming area, a little beach, some summer sun, a hot spring pool." James explained. "A little bit of luxury I think, but it sounded like a good idea to me. Somewhere to relax and get a bit of a tan over the winter."

"And you're... having this in your basement?" Mark clarified. Struggling to try and picture what he was being told.

"Apparently so," James shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, though... I'll wait and see how it turns out." He explained with a laugh. "Enchanting big things like that is pretty complicated work, I never got the hang of it, but I guess I'll wait and see how it looks."

"Yes... well," Mark chuckled, shaking his head at that and giving up on trying to understand magic for now. "Lets see what our daughter has to say, shall we?" He asked, shuffling his chair over so he could sit next to his wife as he unfolded the letter from Hermione and held it out so they could both read it and see exactly what she'd been up to since they first put her on that magical train two weeks ago. "And perhaps you'd be willing to tell us some more of what our daughter has been learning? It's going to be rather hard I imagine, with Hermione coming back at Christmas and unable to show us all the things she's learnt so far." He admitted.

"I'll bet," James nodded back, enjoying the taste of the freshly ground coffee. "I'll figure something out, maybe you could all come up to my place for the day sometime. She'll be able to show off everything there, give you two a taste of what she's been learning." He mused aloud.

"That... that would certainly be worth the long drive up north." Mark admitted, looking up from his daughter's letter.

"I'll sort something out," James nodded thoughtfully, making a mental note to himself that apparating them both up to The Manor or sorting out a portkey wouldn't be that much trouble at all really.

As he watched Hermione's parents get engrossed in the letter, he started planning things for the Christmas holidays already, and a Christmas spent with friends and family was something he hadn't actually thought about in a long time now.

Christmases for him in his future had normally been spent with Andromeda, Teddy and Victoire, and times when they were abroad somewhere, he'd either spend the holidays on his own, working through it, or just him and Andromeda passing the time together.

It was a rather strange realisation that for this Christmas, he'd actually have Amelia around, along with Julia, and Harry and Sirius, and Susan and Daphne, Neville and Hermione too if they wanted to join them for a few days.

Quite the drastic change from spending the holidays alone.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

James was happily smiling as he wandered through the corridors at Hogwarts on his way up to see Minerva. He'd only been back in the castle for twenty or thirty minutes when a house elf had popped in and told him that his presence was requested.

His day at the Grangers had gone really well, he was actually surprised that he'd never actually met Hermione's parents properly in his old life, at least not that he could remember, but he'd spent most of the day happily chatting with them, helping to fix up the large two way mirror over a fireplace in the upstairs study of their house, and then removing Celeste's plaster cast on her leg once she'd told him that she was sure her leg wasn't hurting at all anymore.

He'd received a small plastic carrier bag of presents that he'd shrunk down for Hermione to give to her on her birthday, along with a letter to pass on when he saw her, and a birthday card for Thursday.

Overall, it had been a pleasant day, and he'd found that he actually enjoyed being back in the muggle world and away from all the magic for a time, it was a nice break away from the stupidity and arrogance of magical life to a place where common sense was welcomed.

It was a pleasant reminder of the days he'd spent with Hermione in his future, out in the muggle world with her where it was a relief to just be himself and walk around without being stared at all the time.

He didn't even have to pause as he approached the gargoyle that led up to Minerva's office, it simply jumped aside as he approached, leaving him clear to walk up the stairs and into Minerva's office without interruption.

Knocking on the door at the top of the stairs, he pushed through and wandered into the office, stopping only when he recognised the witch that was quietly talking with Minerva over her desk. The bright pink hair was a pretty good indication of who the witch was, but as she turned to look at him, her casual punk style coat, along with a Weird Sisters t-shirt and torn jeans finished off the look perfectly.

"Ah, James, I was worried you weren't in the castle today." Minerva smiled, looking over at him and beckoning for him to join them. "This is..."

"Nymphadora Tonks," James filled in with a nod towards her, taking a small amount of pleasure and smirking at how her hair flushed bright red when he said her first name.

"Just Tonks." Nymphadora said firmly.

"Yes, well," Minerva moved on, her lips pressed in a thin line of disapproval at Nymphadora's refusal to be introduced by her proper name. "I have spoken with Miss Tonks, and she would be amicable to apprenticing under you for the foreseeable future as your assistant." She explained, looking over to James.

"Alright," James nodded, looking over at Tonks and studying her curiously, looking her over and studying her face to see how much of her he could recognise after raising Teddy for his entire life.

"I have her NEWT transcripts here if you wish to look through them." Minerva noted, gesturing to some parchments on her desk for James to look at and causing a groan of embarrassment from Tonks in response.

"That bad huh?" James chuckled as he accepted the thin pile of parchments, flicking down to the various exam scores. "Outstanding in charms and transfiguration, exceeds expectations in defence, muggle studies and potions." He snorted, shaking his head and handing the parchments back to Minerva. "Double E in Potions? How'd you manage that? Snape was a dick to anyone who wasn't in Slytherin?."

"Mr Potter!" Minerva huffed, frowning at James for his language.

"Tell me I'm wrong." James retorted simply, waiting for Minerva's response before he looked over to Tonks when she remained silent.

"My mum really, she tutored me in potions a lot." Tonks explained with a small shrug.

"Makes sense," James nodded thoughtfully.

After talking with both Amelia and Sirius, and going through his own memories about everything Tonks had done, he was now pretty sure that in his time, Tonks had only been following Dumbledore's orders because she was still in the mindset of Hogwarts. The 'Dumbledore can do no wrong and must be obeyed' mindset that so many people seemed to slip into for absolutely no reason.

Tonks specifically hadn't done anything really wrong to him, she'd kept him at The Dursley's and Sirius at Grimmauld Place, that much he knew, but at least she'd been decent about it and friendly, getting to know Remus along with him and Sirius while they were imprisoned, unlike some of the other Dumbledore sycophants that just looked at him like a burden they had to watch over, or others that looked at him like he was just little child and treated him as such, like Molly Weasley had done.

"Alright, we can give this a try." James nodded slowly, startling as Tonks jumped forwards and hugged him.

"Quite," Minerva chuckled to herself, watching as James quickly extracted himself from Nymphadora's arms. "Miss Tonks will be responsible for covering classes while you are... indisposed with your other duties."

"Cursing the crap out of Voldemort and his merry band of arse kissers you mean," James smirked over as Nymphadora grinned openly at him.

"I expect you to keep Miss Tonks up to date on your lesson plans, and for her to be informed as to your progress throughout the year." Minerva instructed firmly through a disapproving frown. "I have set aside a living area where you will be situated for the year. Next to Mr Potter's residence on the third floor corridor. I am certain he will be able to show you there so you will be ready for your duties in the morning."

"Sounds good boss," Tonks smiled over, practically beaming at Minerva for giving her this chance.

"Quite," Minerva sighed. "While normally I would request robes, Mr Potter's choice of a more casual wardrobe has become somewhat... popular with his students, so I won't expect you to adhere to them while your master refuses."

"Good choice there," Tonks snickered over as James rolled his eyes at Minerva's 'master' comment.

"How is the investigation into the incident at Godric's Hollow progressing?" Minerva asked curiously. "Might I assume that Amelia will be somewhat of a regular in the castle now?" She asked with a small smirk at the confirmation she'd received yesterday of their relationship.

"Probably," James grinned over. "They've got a few leads, Mad-Eye's taken the lead on it, and you know how paranoid he can be about things like this. I'll head down there again in a few days and poke around, see what's going on."

"Probably best," Minerva nodded thoughtfully. "And Harry?"

"Doing alright," James nodded back. "I'll let you know now though, I'm taking him down there on Halloween. There's some things we need to do, just us two."

"Of course," Minerva nodded solemnly at that, it would be the ten year anniversary of Lily's death, obviously James would want to take Harry up to Godric's Hollow to pay their respects. "I'm sure by that point you will have Miss Tonks up to speed to cover your lessons for the day."

"Probably," James gave a small smile over to Tonks as he thought about it. "If not, we'll just head down in the evening after classes." He explained as Tonks nodded in agreement.

"A workable plan then," Minerva said, writing a small note to herself down on a piece of parchment. "I will admit, if you weren't amenable to apprenticing Miss Tonks here, I was going to ask you if Sirius would be willing to cover some of your lessons when you were unable."

"Probably not a good idea," James snorted, shaking his head. "Sirius could do it, don't get me wrong. But he's still got a couple of screws loose after his stint in the Azkaban Royal Hotel, anger problems to spare and still pretty pissed off at everyone for believing he was guilty and nobody asking why he never even got a trial. Can't really blame him for feeling abandoned by everyone when it's like that, it'd not like anyone even visited him in Azkaban to find out the truth from him or anything." He explained with a shrug, watching as Tonks winced at the explanation of her cousin's mental problems. "He's getting better, it's just going to be a few months down the road before he can be around a busy crowd without being twitchy about things."

"I see," Minerva nodded thoughtfully, frowning at her own complicity when she'd been more than happy to believe Sirius' guilt than actually stand up for the student she knew. "Then I shall simply send my best wishes to him, and table the subject for now."

"Probably best," James nodded before he grinned over. "Though if you want me to bring him if for another Animagus lesson, let me know. Sit, roll over, play fetch. I'll even bring the rolled up newspaper, or you can lend him out to Hagrid, give the first years some experience on how to give a dog a soapy bath." He added with a smirk, causing Minerva to chuckle at the mental image he was conjuring up.

"Unnecessary, but amusing." Minerva admitted with a wry smile, shuffling some parchments on her desk to find one in particular. "I have had some student withdrawals that you might find interesting. Three in their first year, and one sixth year."

"Oh?" James raised an eyebrow while Tonks looked on with curiosity.

"Marcus Flint from sixth year Slytherin, along with first years Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, and Theodore Nott." Minerva explained.

"Hmmm, you're right, that is interesting," James mused aloud as he sat down on the chair by Minerva's desk, rubbing his stubble thoughtfully as he pondered the names. "Crabbe?"

"His mother died several years ago, with his father incarcerated, his guardianship was transferred to Angus' sister, Marie Goyle. All four have transferred directly to Durmstrang, they were all collected and left with their parents this afternoon." Minerva frowned, sitting down at her desk so she was on the same level as James and wasn't looking down at him. "What are you thinking?"

"Four from Death Eater families, right after the attack on Godric's Hollow?" James asked, cocking an eyebrow towards Minerva. "It can't be a coincidence that they're all leaving so quickly though. I haven't done anything that would scare them off, I don't think I have anyway, not yet at least." He mused aloud, wondering what had caused this change of events.

"While Misters Crabbe, Goyle and Nott were only first year students, Mr Flint was hardly the most adept or powerful student." Minerva frowned over at him. "I believe he only progressed to his sixth year despite frequent warnings from myself and other members of the staff that he had neither the knowledge nor skill to keep up with his NEWT studies."

"Probably Snape pushing Dumbledore for it then, got to keep the Death Eater parents happy after all," James snorted, shaking his head at the stupidity of how things had been.

"Andromeda and Septima have brought... several things to my attention about how Severus ran things in Slytherin." Minerva admitted with a sigh. "How Albus could have allowed such things is truly beyond me."

"Simple, he just didn't care about anyone other than his own shining backside, and everyone just accepted it. Half of them pretty much believed that the old bastard just pissed Felix Felicis and did whatever he told them to without actually thinking for themselves." James said bluntly before holding up his hand to stop Minerva's protest. "It doesn't matter, they're gone now right, out of the school?"

"Entirely," Minerva confirmed with a frown at James' attitude. "I have forwarded their academic transcripts, what little there was of them, to Durmstrang, where they will likely start classes on Monday."

"Fine, good riddance to bad rubbish then." James said, clapping his hands together. "If they're families have gone with them, thats four more Death Eaters I don't have to deal with when Voldemort rears his ugly head again. Anything that saves me time is a good thing in my book."

"You're certain these four families were supporters of... Voldemort?" Minerva asked, barely stumbling over the name this time.

"Hundred percent." James nodded firmly.

"Then they shall not be missed." Minerva nodded back. "One last thing, I doubt you'll be affected very much, but I should inform you that Argus Filch has resigned his post as well today."

"Oh?" James quirked an eyebrow at that, wondering what on earth he'd done to change that little piece of history. Filch was still at the school when Neville had been teaching in his time, so why on earth had he resigned in ninety one now?

"Apparently something," Minerva paused, giving James a wry look. "Was scaring Mrs Norris, she'd refused to come out of his dormitory for quite some time now. He decided to retire and take Mrs Norris away from the castle entirely."

"Something was scaring Mrs Norris?" James asked with a blank face, pondering the mystery. He remembered that damn cat getting petrified in his second year, but he'd never seen her actually scared of anything before. She didn't even seem bothered by patrolling the Third Floor Corridor in his first year when Fluffy was there guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's little gauntlet of traps.

"I dare say the scent of a larger cat, a predator, a lion for example? Around the castle, was too much for the old cat." Minerva explained, rolling her eyes at James' ignorance of the effect his animagus form was having on the natural animals in the castle. "The same reason most other small cats have been avoiding your classroom and the third floor corridor entirely no doubt." She explained with a small smirk.

"Oh," James snorted, not having thought of that at all.

"Yes, oh," Minerva said, shaking her head in amusement. "Very well, if you would see Miss Tonks to her accommodation and assist her in finding your classroom and schedule, it would be appreciated."

"Sure," James nodded, standing up from his hair with a smile. "Come on then, lets see if we can get you to your room without you knocking anything over." He said with a smirk, looking over at Tonks.

"Oi!" Tonks muttered, shaking her head. "Alright, maybe I'm a bit clumsy but I'm not that bad!"

"Really Miss Tonks?" Minerva asked, raising a sardonic eyebrow towards her in response.

"Oh yeah, this is going to go great," James chuckled to himself, shaking his head in amusement. "Come on then." He said with a laugh, walking towards the office door. "I'll let you know how many suits of armour she knocks over on the way." He shot back to Minerva as he opened the office door, ignoring the protest from Tonks as he let her go by first.

"I'm certain that would be appreci..." Minerva started to say but trailed off at a muffled yelp as Tonks slipped on the stairs after two steps down, tumbling and sliding on her arse the rest of the way down the spiral stairway.

"I'm alright!" Came a yell back up from the bottom of the stairs.

"Merlin help me," James muttered, rolling his eyes and shaking his head in amusement.

"I do believe that might be beyond even his power," Minerva chuckled to herself as James dragged his hand down his face and closed the office door.

"You alright?" James asked, walking slowly down the stone stairway and watching Tonks as she got up from the floor and dusted herself off.

"Yeah, probably left my dignity back up there, didn't have much of it left anyway." Tonks chuckled in response as James came to the bottom of the stairs. "Just wanted to say thanks you know, for giving me a chance like this. When I didn't get into the academy, I thought I'd have to and up trawling Diagon for a job somewhere like Malkins." She explained with a shudder of horror at the thought of being trapped in retail hell.

"Minerva and Andromeda asked," James shrugged, gesturing down the corridor for them to continue walking. "Figured it was a good idea, so you can hold down the fort here if something happens."

"My mum asked you?" Tonks asked in surprise. "Didn't know you knew her like that?"

"I know her well enough," James shrugged as he walked on. "Besides, you're Sirius' family too right? Think you and Andromeda are the only family he can really stand."

"Probably," Tonks admitted. "I've only got a few memories of him from when I was younger, after he went to Azkaban, mum didn't want anyone in the house talking about him. Still coming to grips with the news about him being innocent, all that stuff with Crouch, I didn't know The Ministry was like that. "

"It's all that and worse," James muttered, shaking his head. "They're cleaning it up now, got a muggle-born Senior Undersecretary and everything."

"Wow," Tonks whispered in amazement at the changes that were rippling through their society. "What about you and Amelia then? Heard a few things, and the old cat seems to think she'll be here a lot?" She asked with a smirk, wriggling her eyebrows at James.

"You're worse than Sirius," James muttered as he started leading Tonks down the main stairway and towards the third floor offices, doing his best to avoid her gossipy questions along the way.

* * *

**Spinner's End**

**Cokeworth**

Severus Snape snarled in anger as he stormed into his house, slamming the front door shut behind him with enough strength to rattle the pictures on the wall.

Another utterly infuriating day had gone by, and he was no further to securing any livelihood than he had been in the days prior.

Anyone would have thought that a premier Potions Master like himself would have been in high demand in the magical world, but after an interview at St Mungo's that had refused him employment earlier in the week, and then today's apothecary interview that had outright refused him barely moments into the interview, he was starting to get worried.

His finances were in passable shape, and his savings, while, not amazing, were passable. He could live off them for another month or two if he was frugal, but certainly no longer than that. Which meant finding a steady source of income, which meant employment.

The problem was, in magical Britain now, his name was synonymous with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. He couldn't exactly say he was a spy for Dumbledore, as Dumbledore's name was worth about the same as Voldemort's when it came to having doors slammed in his face.

Between that and the infuriating Ravenclaw that had owned the apothecary in Diagon Alley today, a Ravenclaw that he distinctly remembered from her Hogwarts classes and grimaced when he saw her, he had to admit that his attitude towards students over the last decade had left him with very little in the way of employment opportunities around Diagon Alley and the other magical districts.

The Slytherins he had favoured and allowed to skate through classes for so long had either found how appalling their brewing truly was in the real world and left the field behind for other things, or had taken more lucrative and secretive brewing jobs where he wouldn't be welcomed given the current infamy surrounding him.

All in all, he had very few options, and only a small window of time to figure something out.

Returning to Albus wasn't something he could do either, as they'd all heard that Nicholas Flamel had returned to the country. Once Albus had heard that, he'd insisted on going into hiding for reasons he didn't explain to any of them, leaving him, Shacklebolt, and the others curious as to what was actually going on and without a plan to continue their fight against Voldemort.

For now though, he was on his own, and currently neck deep in shit and sinking fast.

He had to keep his head down as much as possible, the news that the Aurors had been given permission to use deadly curses had not been a welcome one. Considering the hated mark that he had currently tattooed on his left arm was a bright red flag to be cursed first and interrogated IF he survived, he knew that his chances would be slim to none if he ended up with the Aurors either investigating him or following him for even a petty crime at this rate.

With Dumbledore seemingly in hiding and not doing anything substantial in the fight against Voldemort, that left him with a rather unwelcome and uneasy feeling of contemplating where he actually stood now. If he wanted to join the fight against Voldemort, that meant joining James bloody Potter, something he could never do and retain any sense of self respect.

The other options were staying neutral, something that he'd found was likely impossible due to the Dark Mark on his arm, the stain on his name, and his decade long behaviour at Hogwarts. Returning to Voldemort's service was equally unpalatable, as while he could survive being questioned about his time at Hogwarts and why he'd fled during Voldemort's battle with Potter, returning as a Death Eater without actually being there to spy on their activities and fight them was something he had sworn he would never do.

Even the news of the attack on Godric's Hollow hadn't been able to lift his spirits this weekend, as it was very clear now that Potter was leading the fight against Voldemort now, not Dumbledore as he'd planned and sided with for all these years. Leaving him sidelined and lost, unable to fulfil his debt to James Potter, and unable to even the scales and repent for his part in Lily's death.

He'd even heard word that Potter had taken the position of Professor of Defence at Hogwarts. The job he'd been dreaming of for years, the one job he wanted but Dumbledore had always denied him. It was infuriating that Potter seemed to have everything that was supposed to be his. Lily, a family, the Defence job, riches and power. Potter had everything, and he was stuck unable to even show his face without suspicion being levelled his way.

From every perspective, his life had quite literally turned to shit from the moment Potter had made his ridiculously dramatic re-appearance at Hogwarts.

It was infuriating on so many levels, but at the moment, he could see no way at all to improve his standing. Leaving him stood alone in his house, grating his teeth in frustration as the world changed drastically around him.

* * *

_**AN:** Just for those complaining about the Grangers being able to use enchanted mirrors and potions. Muggles using both without issue are canon from JK's world with numerous references to both._

_In JK's posts about The Potter Family on Pottermore, she states clearly that Linfred 'The Potterer' Stinchcombe was a medieval potioneer who lived in a muggle village._

_Direct quote from JK - "Linfred was a vague and absent-minded fellow whose Muggle neighbours often called upon his medicinal services. None of them realised that Linfred's wonderful cures for pox and ague were magical."_

_Then during Goblet of Fire, we see Dudley Dursley eating a 'Ton-Tongue Toffee' which causes his tongue to grow to extreme size, upto around four feet long according to Arthur Weasley... so we have canon references that either enchanted sweets, or sweets mixed with a potions base, do work on muggles._

_Throughout the various Harry Potter books, we hear, mostly from the Weasley's about Arthur's work, that muggles regularly touch and get hold of enchanted items like biting teacups and things like that, and they work for them, requiring obliviations and the enchanted items to be retrieved. There's also various quotes about muggles being able to use Portkeys, which is why wizards tend to make them out of things muggles wouldn't touch, along with many other references about muggles being able to use enchanted items._

_I know it seems to have become fanon that muggles can't use potions or enchanted items, but canon says they can, so I'm sticking with JK's rule here._


	26. Chapter 26

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Monday, 16th September**

**Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

James grinned to himself as he walked into the classroom first thing on Monday morning, seeing the first year Gryffindor and Slytherin class already there and chatting eagerly amongst themselves. "Alright everyone, settle down." He chuckled as he walked through the door, everyone falling silent immediately and dashing back to their seats as he led the way through the students with Tonks following him, the curious students looking up at them both as he walked to the front of the classroom.

"Right, this is Tonks," James explained aloud as he reached his desk, shrugging off his coat and throwing it over the desk casually, leaving him in comfortable jeans and shirt for now. "Otherwise known as She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." He added on with a smirk, drawing gasps from half the students, laughter from the other half, and a strangled sound of shock from the metamorph in question that he happily ignored. "She'll be covering lessons here and there, helping me out, Professor McGonagall's dumped her on me as an apprentice, but she's basically a trainee professor type deal alright?" He asked, looking around the class before smirking at Tonks to show he was kidding. "She's good enough to get into the Aurors at her age. Think about that for a second before you say anything stupid." He added, spotting a few doubtful glances at Tonks' bright pink hair and unusual dress sense.

"Wotcher," Tonks grinned, giving the class a cheeky wave.

"Her office is next door to mine, so if you need something and I don't answer the door, try there alright? Anyway, introductions over with." James clapped loudly. "The knockback jinx." He said loudly, drawing his wand from his pocket and writing out in the air, causing 'Flipendo' to hang in fiery lettering for them all to read. "Typically a duelling jinx, it'll knock your opponent back about two or three feet, depending on how strong you cast it. If you put enough oomph into it, you can knock them off their feet entirely." He explained, looking around to make sure everyone was paying attention.

As he looked around the class he had to grin as his eyes settled on the front row, seeing Neville and Hermione sat there and sharing a desk happily with Daphne and her brunette friend from Slytherin. It was also rather amusing to see Draco Malfoy without his usual bookends, instead now he was sharing a desk with Pansy Parkinson, with neither of them looking like they wanted to be in the classroom at all.

"It's a pretty simple jinx really, but if you're quick with it you can knock an opponent down, giving you those extra few seconds to cast something else like a body bind or a stunner, taking them down completely." James explained with a smile. "We've got a few people here familiar with it, so who can tell me what it feels like?"

He wasn't at all surprised to see both Hermione and Daphne's hands raised first, with Neville putting his hand up a few seconds later, leaving Daphne's friend to give all three of them a questioning look.

"Daphne?" James grinned, flicking his wand to her.

"Like being pushed in the stomach really hard." Daphne explained firmly.

"Hermione?" James asked, flicking his wand to the next at the table.

"It felt like something heavy crashed into me." Hermione said, trying to put the strange sensation into words.

"Neville?" James asked again, flicking his wand to the last person with their hand up.

"Like... like being kicked in the chest," Neville explained with a wince.

"Three descriptions, all pretty much the same really." James explained, nodding in thanks to the three friends as he stepped away from his desk. "Tonks is going to shield against me casting it, just so you can get an idea of what to expect."

"Great, one crash test dummy coming up." Tonks muttered, causing a few of the class to laugh at her comment as she readied her wand.

"Ready?" James asked with a grin, waiting for Tonks to nod at him before casting, verbally casting aloud for the first time in a very long time. "Flipendo!"

The loud bang that echoed his casting caught most of the class by surprise, though everyone saw the yellow spell leave his wand and clash against Tonks shield, her grimace as she stumbled back a bit had everyone's attention before James continued on.

"As you heard, it's not the stealthiest spell around, making it pretty useless for a surprise attack unless you're particularly quick with it." James explained. "But since Tonks here doesn't want to be our crash test dummy anymore, we'll have to get you lot practising on something else." He said, drawing a smattering of laughter from the muggle-born students in the class as he grabbed a book from his desk and tossed it into the corner of the room before transfiguring it up into a standard duelling dummy on wheels.

Heading over to the dummy he gave it a once over to make sure it was how he'd wanted it to be, before he pulled it a few feet away from the wall and motioned for Tonks. "Give it a test?" He asked, stepping away from the dummy as Tonks readied her wand and cast loudly towards the dummy, the accompanying bang causing the classroom to jump again before a blue light shot out of her wand and crashed into the dummy, sending it skidding back on it's wheels into the wall.

"Alright, now..." James paused, noticing Hermione's hand was raised up. "Hermione?" He asked curiously.

"Professor, why was your spell yellow, but Professor Tonks' spell was blue?" Hermione asked curiously. "It was the same spell, shouldn't they have been the same colour?"

"You'd think so," James nodded thoughtfully. "The spell colour shifts depending on power and intent, you'll find that with a lot of spells. It's not something you're really going to worry about until third year when you get into the intent of casting and how to change the effect of certain spells on the fly." He explained, seeing the curious look on Hermione's face that demanded answers. "Like with a cushioning charm, you have to decide how large you want the area, how soft, things like that are all affected by your intent on casting. Five points though for noticing the difference." He added with a smile down to her. "For now, I just want to focus on getting you lot to cast the spells. We can work on intent and variable spellwork once you've got the hang of casting the basics."

"Tonks, you want to walk them through the wand motions?" He asked, dispelling the fiery writing with a wave of his hand as he walked past, heading towards his desk and leaning back on it as he watched Tonks move to the middle of the front of the room, slowly and rather grandly showing the class the tick and flourish motion for the spell, walking everyone through it as they were practising it silently at their desks.

It was an amusing sight, watching Tonks' hair colour flick from pink to pale blue as she helped a few students with the flourish of their wand motions, crouching down next to them and going through the motions with her own wand next to theirs until they got it.

He spotted a few of the first years being distracted by Tonks' hair, whispering amongst themselves as they were obviously trying to figure out why her hair was changing colour like that.

Once he was satisfied that she'd made her way around the entire class, he happily grinned at her as she came back to join him by the desk. "Right, you all know the drill. Line up and take a shot at the dummy." He explained with a laugh, stepping forwards to stand a few feet in front of the dummy where he wanted the line to end.

He didn't have to wait long for the entire class to surge forwards, apparently all of them now more familiar and comfortable with his 'hands on casting' style of teaching, and before long there was a nice, if not orderly, queue leading back from him with a few Gryffindors at the front before it descended into chaos and crowding half way down.

"Go on then, lets see what you've got!" James grinned as Fay Dunbar stepped forward and flourished her wand, casting loudly and perfectly as the blue spell shot out and smashed into the dummy in question. "Great stuff!" He grinned proudly, wandlessly summoning the dummy back the few inches it had been knocked back. "Back to your seats when you've done." He said with a smile over to Fay as she headed back to her seat with a proud smile on her face. "Next up!"

And with that, the practical session begun.

It was an hour and a half later as the Gryffindor and Slytherin class left the room, everyone in high spirits after the fun class and chatting amongst themselves as they left, all eager to read up on the Full Body-Bind Curse ready for Thursday's lesson.

"That's bloody tiring," Tonks breathed out as the last of the students left the room, leaving her alone in the classroom with James as he laughed at her and relaxed back against his desk.

"They're not that bad," James chuckled, hopping up to sit on his desk as Tonks grabbed a seat at one of the students desks, flopping into it and sliding down to relax for a bit.

"Yeah right," Tonks snorted, shaking her head. "I kinda feel sorry for my teachers now, never realised how much hard work this stuff was."

"Come on, we're only one lesson in." James smirked over at her. "Fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins will be here in half an hour. Double lesson before lunch."

"Oh yay," Tonks muttered dryly, rolling her eyes over to James. "What's with the three at the front? Two Gryffs and a Slytherin?" She asked curiously. "They got their form down nearly perfect, never seen Gryffs friendly with a snake like that before either."

"Hermione, Neville and Daphne." James nodded over. "They've been practising this stuff already, they're all friends with Harry so they're a bit ahead of things, probably will be all year until I start teaching them something they haven't come across in the books yet."

"Daphne's the Slytherin right?" Tonks asked curiously.

"Daphne Greengrass," James nodded over. "She's... it's complicated." He admitted with a frown. "She's Julia's daughter. I'm... I think I'm dating Julia, and Amelia."

"Think you're dating?" Tonks smirked over. "Hows that happen?"

"Honestly I'm not sure either," James grimaced over to her. "Something about line continuance and Amelia wanting to share in a betrothal and... whatever..." He admitted with a shrug. "I know she was dating Amelia before me, but... we haven't exactly gone on a date or anything yet, so... I've got no clue." He admitted, ruffling his hair in confusion. "Somehow I've ended up in a threesome and I've got no idea what's going on with it."

"Not many wizards'd be complaining at that. So, she's going to be family then, if this betrothal thing works out?" Tonks asked curiously, smirking at how the infamous James Potter was apparently utterly clueless when it came to the fairer sex.

"Yeah, pretty much." James nodded over, wondering how he'd actually got into this situation in the first place. "Neville Longbottom, he's my godson."

"Right, that's easy enough. So the third?" Tonks nodded back.

"Hermione, friends with the rest, muggle-born and probably the smartest student in the classroom." James said with a grin. "Seriously, she's sharper than a piercing charm. She'll have read the entire first year book by now, and probably attacked the library already and moved on to the second and third year to keep up with Harry and Susan at this rate." He explained with a snort of laughter. "Expect regular questions from her about everything under the sun, and probably a few things that aren't."

"Right, brush up on everything so I don't look like a total idiot then." Tonks grimaced, thankful for the warning at least. "Anyone else worth keeping an eye on?"

"Blonde, pointy face and slicked back hair, attitude coming out of his arse? Pouting at the back of the classroom and sneering at everyone else? That's Draco Malfoy." James explained.

"Ahh my baby cousin," Tonks rolled her eyes at that one.

"Right," James nodded back. "Ginger Gryffindor at the back left, not paying attention, didn't even bother to get his books out? Ron Weasley."

"Gotcha," Tonks nodded. "Not taking points from him for that then?"

"Not worth it," James shook his head with a shrug. "He'll do the reading or he won't, either way it's going to be his own damn fault when he fails the course this year. When I start handing out homework, I'll be specifically mentioning that I don't want anyone to help each other, solo assignments only. That'll give me a good idea of how bad things actually are."

"Good luck with that," Tonks snorted, shaking her head in amusement at his plan. "So, what now, just hang around until the next class get here?"

"Ask a house elf for a coffee or something if you're bored," James nodded back. "I want to get the fifth years onto their Patronus work today so they can clean out on their OWL exams, so it's going to be a lot of one on one."

"Patronus, for fifth year?" Tonks whispered in shock. "You're serious?"

"As a killing curse," James smirked back.

"Blimey," Tonks muttered, frowning at that. "I can't even do that now, how the bugger are you going to get fifth years casting that sort of stuff?"

"You can't?" James asked, looking at Tonks in surprise now. "I thought you'd have been able to since you were looking at the Aurors?" He asked curiously, now wondering if Dumbledore had had Remus give everyone special lessons on Patronus casting when the war kicked off, in Tonks had learnt it from Remus instead of in Hogwarts or anywhere else, that might have been where she started to fall for him.

He already knew that Dumbledore had refused to give him any special training or lessons to help him defeat Voldemort, why would he when he was planning for him to commit suicide over it anyway? But cottoning onto the fact that Dumbledore had apparently given his Order of the Phoenix members extra training themselves, while denying it to him, was something that rankled deep inside of him and brought that grudge further to the surface.

"Never had anyone to teach it," Tonks shrugged. "Defence teachers were crap when I was here, I only got through on my own study. Think barely a handful of Aurors can too, the rest don't want to learn it so they don't end up settled with Azkaban guard duty like the rest who know it." She explained with a grimace at the thought.

"Probably," James muttered, rolling his eyes at the thought. "Alright, we've got half an hour, lets see what we can do." He said, hopping up off the table and bringing out his wand to start teaching Tonks how to actually cast a Patronus.

* * *

**Potter Manor**

**Honley**

**West Yorkshire**

"Sirius?" Amelia called out as she stepped through the fireplace into the Potter living room, looking around curiously for any sight of the wizard in question. "Sirius Black?" She shouted, louder this time.

"'Melia? That you up there?"

"Where are you?" Amelia called out in response, happy that she actually got a response that indicated Sirius was at the manor and not off gallivanting around somewhere.

"Downstairs, behind the spiral staircase." Sirius' voice yelled back.

Amelia nodded at that, gesturing for Julia to join her as she headed over to the spiral stone staircase that led up and curiously looked around it before finding the stairway that led down to the basement of the manor.

Heading down she had her wand out ready to cast a lumos readily, before another shout from Sirius told them to go down the next flight of stairs as well to the level beneath where they currently were.

Thankfully as Amelia led the way down to the lower level basement, a lumos wasn't needed at all, rather the opposite actually, causing both Amelia and Julia to use their hands to shade their eyes from the bright light that came from the enchanted ceiling above displaying a rather beautiful blue sky, along with a few wispy clouds and colourful parrots flying randomly around in the harsh midday sun.

"Well, I didn't expect that." Julia muttered, blinking as her eyes tried to adjust to the tropical daylight she'd just stepped into from the gloomy basement level above them.

"What brings you two lovely ladies down to my little basement paradise?" Sirius grinned over as he approached the pair, dusting down his casual clothes from where he'd been working over in the corner of the basement and smiling over at them from behind a pair of muggle sunglasses.

"A discussion actually, though..." Amelia cocked her head to the side, looking around the basement in curiosity. "James told me what you had planned for down here, but I didn't expect you to be going ahead with it so soon." She admitted, actually impressed with the work Sirius had managed to do on the enchanted ceiling above them.

"Getting there," Sirius nodded, looking around proudly. "Me and James... Prongs I mean... um..."

"It's alright Sirius, she knows." Amelia interrupted, cutting Sirius off with a nod.

"Right, good." Sirius nodded, giving a small breath of relief that he hadn't messed up there. "Me, Prongs and Remus, we figured out the Hogwarts enchanted ceiling back in sixth year." He admitted with a grin. "Just had to find Prongs' old journals upstairs and then recreate it down here." He explained with a shrug. "Haven't got the day and night cycle sorted out yet though, sunsets and that sort of stuff are a pain in the arse. So I'm stuck with a sunny tropical day down here for the moment, whatever the time is." He explained with a shrug.

"It's... I'm actually impressed," Julia admitted, looking up as a particularly colourful parrot flew overhead. "This is some beautiful enchanting work. You have a gift for it." She said with an appreciative nod.

"Thanks," Sirius grinned over, strutting around the room proudly. "Enchanting was always something I was pretty good at. Got into it after working on my motorbike, it's all sorts of fun." He admitted. "Working on designing a hot spring over here, flowing out to a larger pool with a sandy beach going down to it. Maybe a waterfall coming down somewhere, haven't decided on that yet though." He explained, gesturing to the corner of the room. "Smaller pool with the hot spring, up on the rocks a bit, somewhere for the adults to relax with a few cocktails while they watch over the kiddies." He explained with a grin.

"You've planned this out rather thoroughly," Amelia nodded, impressed with the work Sirius was putting in here. It seemed James was right and that giving Sirius a creative project to take his mind of things was exactly what the man needed right now.

"Mostly what Prongs wanted actually," Sirius admitted. "We used to spend hours talking about it, what Prongs wanted to do and how creative we could get with it." He explained with a grin. "Honesty sure he spend most of it imagining Lily in a swimming costume though, so it was down to me and Mooney to actually plan things out and dream about what we could do with the place." He explained with a chuckle.

"That does sound more like the Ja... Prongs I knew." Amelia admitted with a smirk, catching on that Sirius was calling the real James 'Prongs' to separate the two in his mind.

"Anyway, you two aren't here for the sunbathing, which isn't quite done yet, unless you don't mind lying on a damp stone floor?" Sirius laughed, tapping the heel of his shoe against the cold stone floor underfoot. "What do you need?"

"Actually, your help." Amelia said, moving back to the real reason she was here.

"Alright, what can I do?" Sirius shrugged, walking back over. Always more than happy to help Junior and his ladies.

"I'm working on some changes that James wants to get pushed through the Wizengamot. Equal laws for muggle-borns, removing the muggle-born business restrictions, stamping out as much of the bigoted laws as we can." Amelia explained. "I know James is focused on Voldemort right now, but if we can make a start on these while his popularity is at it's peak, it'll save us a lot of campaigning later on."

"Politics then," Sirius groaned in disgust, shaking his head. "What do you need? Money for campaigning? Stuff like that?"

"You actually," Julia said, looking at him with a small grin.

"Me?" Sirius blinked in surprise at that, looking between Julia and Amelia in shock. "Alright, I'll bite... why me?"

"We need you to take your seat on the Wizengamot," Amelia explained bluntly. "Sirius, we need this!" She said firmly, talking over Sirius' objections. "The Black seat is one of the oldest in the chamber, and it's been empty ever since your father died, despite Lucius Malfoy trying to take control of it several times."

"Good riddance," Sirius muttered, more than happy that that bigoted old bastard had finally keeled over.

"If you take the seat, you can align the Black votes with us, it'll rewrite the blocs in the Wizengamot completely." Julia explained. "The light families are already coming over to us from Dumbledore's corner, now that he's been ousted, they don't have anyone to lead them and are looking to people like Amos Diggory instead."

"Don't know him," Sirius shrugged.

"With your vote, along with a few others that are joining us, we'll be able to push through to get the Potter seat finally recognised." Amelia pointed out to him, catching the smirk on his face when she mentioned that. "It'll be a kick in the teeth to the old bigots sitting there, and counter their votes in a single move."

"That'd be worth it," Sirius muttered, pulling his long hair out of his face for the moment as he pulled off his sunglasses to consider what they were talking about. "Flea always did want to get the family recognised, he just didn't have the votes to get it done."

"With you, we think we will." Amelia pointed out. "Black, Bones, Greengrass," She explained with a small gesture to each of them. "We've also got Augusta Longbottom on board already, and I can pretty much guarantee there'll be a swoop of others voting for it as soon as James' name is mentioned."

"No surprise there," Sirius snorted, shaking his head as he slid his sunglasses onto the collar of his grimy t-shirt. "They'll just attach themselves to whoever's the most popular or whoever throws around the most galleons."

"Exactly," Julia pointed out. "With our four families working in concert, they won't be able to deny James his seat."

"Does he know about this?" Sirius asked curiously. Not having heard Junior mention anything about political leanings before, and after spending time with him, he couldn't imagine Junior asking to be part of the Wizengamot any more than he wanted to.

"Not yet," Amelia admitted. "He knows the laws we need to change and knows my plans for them, but not that we'd need his seat to actually affect the changes he wants to champion."

"Oh he's going to hate you for that," Sirius barked out a laugh as he realised what Amelia was playing at. "You seriously think we can get all the muggle-born laws scratched off the books?" He asked curiously.

"It's what we're aiming for," Amelia nodded back. "You've seen his memories. We've already removed Dolores Umbridge from The Ministry, but adding some laws to stop that Muggle-Born Registration future from ever happening is high on my list right now." She said firmly. "I can't do anything to help James with Voldemort until he pops his head up again, but this? This is something I can do to help him prevent that future from ever coming to pass."

"Alright," Sirius nodded, clapping his hands together. "Doing this for Lily, that... that's something I can do. It's something she'd want me to do." He admitted with a nod. "Prongs would be laughing his arse off right now, you know that? Imagine, the Black family championing for muggle-born equal rights." He said with a wide grin. "Merlin, that alone would have the rest of the Blacks spinning in their graves." He explained with a bark of laughter.

"There's a sitting on Thursday morning," Julia pointed out. "If you walk in and claim your seat, park it in our bloc with me and Amelia, we can start working on pushing through the changes before the dark families have any idea of what's going on."

"And Junior doesn't know what's going on?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Not yet," Amelia nodded over to him. "If we can get this done, I'll tell him once we get the Potter seat recognised." She explained.

"Oh let me, please." Sirius laughed over. "Getting one over on the Wizengamot and Junior in one go? This is like a dream of mine." He explained with a wide grin. "He's going to go crazy when he figures all this out."

"Probably," Amelia admitted with a small smile. "But he'll have to know it needs to be done if he wants those changes pushed through. I just don't think he's realised it means he'll have to be front and centre for all of them to give them even a chance of passing."

"Alright, I'm in." Sirius grinned happily as he started plotting to reverse all those horrible laws that his father was so proud of bribing through. "Thursday morning?" He double checked.

"I'll come here first and walk you through it," Amelia nodded back, with a glance over to Julia to make sure she was on board with that as well.

"My dad never bothered talking to me about the Wizengamot crap," Sirius admitted with a shrug. "Regulus was the one he was priming to take over, guess he did better than me at hiding who he really was." He explained with a sad frown as he thought about his brother must have gone through. With Junior telling him the truth about how his brother had really died, he hadn't really thought about how that must have been for him growing up. "Alright, oh, and how did the talk go? With you two and Junior? I mean, I'm guessing it went alright since you know what's going on with him now and everything right?" He asked, glancing towards Julia.

"Surprisingly well actually," Amelia smiled over. "Things are still in the early stages, but we will be looking at a betrothal announcement soon enough." She explained with a happy smile at the thought.

"Definitely," Julia confirmed. "Both Daphne and Astoria were happy at the idea. I'm reasonably sure both of the girls will be happy to take the Potter name after we get married."

"Good for them," Sirius grinned over. "So Junior will be dad to a whole litter of kiddies soon enough." He explained with a laugh. "Good on him, he deserves a decent family after all the crap he's been through."

"Susan was more than happy with the arrangement," Amelia explained with a small laugh, remembering how Susan and practically tackle hugged Harry when she'd figured out they were really going to be brother and sister. "I think she's always wanted more family herself, growing up alone she made pretty good friends with the Abbots, but growing into a real family would really help her come out of her shell a bit more."

"Planning a party to celebrate the betrothal then?" Sirius asked with a wide grin, picturing all the mischief he could get upto in a big party like that.

"Probably next year sometime," Amelia said thoughtfully. "Or maybe we could hold off on that until the betrothal passes into an engagement?" She asked with a glance towards Julia.

"Oh! We could hold an engagement party here," Sirius beamed, bouncing a bit at the thought. "Over the summer holidays, a big marquee outside, music, fireworks, the whole thing." He planned out, picturing how amazing it would be in his mind. "Junior would love that, getting engaged in the same place Prongs and Lily did, it'd be like they were watching him."

"That's certainly something worth thinking about," Amelia mused on the idea thoughtfully. "This place is certainly bigger than the Bones manor." She admitted thoughtfully.

"A lot bigger than my place too," Julia nodded in agreement. "More grounds too, so the kids can have fun out on their brooms or doing whatever else they wanted."

"Still, something to consider for next year." Amelia said, putting that thought on the backburner for now. "We have a lot to do before we can even start thinking of something that far ahead."

"Right, work first, fun later." Sirius grimaced, it had always been the other way around in Hogwarts for him and Prongs, but as he was quickly coming to learn, Junior had a firm grasp of wanting to get things done first before doing anything fun with his life. "OK, politics." He said aloud with a groan as he gestured for Amelia and Julia to follow him back upstairs so they could talk without the bright sun beaming down from overhead and giving them a sunburn. "What do I need to know?" He asked hopefully as he slowly trudged up the stairs.

* * *

**Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

As the bell rung for the end of the third year Slytherin and Gryffindor double defence class, James watched with a smirk as Tonks practically sagged against the classroom wall while the class enthusiastically bagged up their books and parchments and filed out of the class.

"Wicked stuff Professor Prongs!"

James grinned over to the pair of the Weasley Twins that were left in the classroom as everyone else filed out of the classroom.

"Glad you two are enjoying it," James chuckled over. "How's potions going with Professor Tonks?" He asked, noticing how Tonks' ears quite literally perked up at this as she focused her attention on the conversation going on.

"Wicked!" Both twins breathed out at once.

"She's got us mixing all sorts of stuff!" One of the twins clarified.

"Fancy stuff really, never knew a Professor could mix that sort of stuff!" The other twin added on.

"Much better than Snape was, a hundred times better." The first twin nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh brother of mine, I do think you're underselling the wonderful Professor Tonks." The second twin shook his head. "Who else would have taught us how to enchant a transfiguration into a potion like that?"

"Too true, too true indeed," The first twin sighed theatrically.

"A thousand times better than Snape!" They both declared in tandem with beaming grins to match their enthusiasm.

"I'm sure she'll be happy to know that," James laughed, shaking his head at the twins antics. "Just remember to stay on her good side, her cousin is Padfoot after all. So if you behave with her, she might bring him along sometime and introduce you two."

"That... that would be a day of the ages," The first twin breathed out reverently.

"A day to surpass all others," The second twin confirmed.

"You two keep it up, and I'll see what we can do." James grinned back.

"Yes Professor Prongs!" Both twins nodded enthusiastically as they grabbed their bags and dashed out of the classroom, both now talking very quickly to each other about their plans for future Weasley products.

"You foisted those two out on mum?" Tonks whispered in horror, looking at James in surprise as she hobbled over to one of the student seats and practically collapsed into it.

"Actually I think Andromeda loves having them around," James explained with a laugh as he hopped up onto his desk and got comfortable sitting there. "They're damn good at what they do, mixing potions and coming up with creative stuff. They just needed a teacher that was willing to let them go a bit, rather than keeping them trodden down and buckled into the straight and narrow."

"Blimey," Tonks muttered, shaking her head as she tried to imagine her mum teaching those two. "I'd get a headache just being in the same room as them for too long."

"You get used to it," James chuckled to himself.

"Quite so,"

Both James and Tonks looked up at that, Tonks craning her neck around as she recognised Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway of the defence classroom and looking on.

"Surprisingly, actually both the Weasley twins have shown a remarkable change this past week." Minerva admitted as she came into the defence classroom. "Both in the quality of their essays, and their focus in the classroom." She explained. "I had a closer look at their work after our last discussion, I trust I have you to thank for that?" She clarified, looking at James.

"Probably," James shrugged from where he was still casually sat on his desk.

"I had assumed as much," Minerva nodded thoughtfully. "I also witnessed several sixth year students on the grounds practising their Patronus shields. More work of yours?"

"Yup," James nodded, popping the 'p' proudly as he grinned over. "I'll have all the NEWT students casting it by the end of the year, probably at least half of the OWL kids too."

"Such advanced spells are not normally taught until students apply for their mastery programs." Minerva said with a small frown over towards James as she considered what he was saying.

"It's stupid," James shrugged. "They need to learn it, now more than ever." He said firmly. "If Voldemort breaks into Azkaban, they'll join him, and we'll have Dementors to deal with as well as Death Eaters." He explained bluntly. "Don't know about you, but I'd feel a hell of a lot better with fifty or a hundred more Patronus' flying around than I would with just a few."

"You... you really think he'd attack Azkaban?" Tonks asked, looking over to James now.

"Why not?" James asked curiously. "Half his inner circle are locked up there." He pointed out. "Breaking them out would double the Death Eaters loyal to him, not to mention the rest of the crazies and killers in there and the chaos that would cause." He explained. "You think he hasn't figured that out?" He asked as he looked at Tonks.

"You're right, of course." Minerva winced as she considered the fallout of Voldemort attacking Azkaban. "It is certainly something he would attempt to do in order to bolster his forces." She explained with a sigh. "I trust Amelia has already been told?"

"She knows," James nodded thoughtfully. "I think she's working on bolstering the guards there, but with the dementors around, it's a pretty hard sell to offer that as a job." He explained with a snort of laughter, shaking his head at the thought. "Nobody's going to want to work somewhere like that."

"Aurors that can cast a patronus are rare as a goblins smile anyway." Tonks pointed out. "Not corporal anyway, most of them can manage a shield, nothing like him." She explained, pointing towards James with a smirk.

"Yes, both James and Sirius, Lily and Remus as well to that point, were all rather prodigious with their charms work." Minerva admitted with a sigh. "And... has Albus been in contact at all?"

"Nope, not in person anyway." James shook his head. "He sent Shacklebolt to try and talk to me instead. That's his usual style, I don't expect to see Dumbledore poke his head above ground until he's sent more of his little toadies to do his work for him."

"James," Minerva groused, frowning over at him.

"Oh you know it's true," James shot back, matching her frown. "It's what Dumbledore does. He uses people, gets them indebted to him, or lets them think they are, and manipulates them into doing what he wants so he can just sit around on his arse." He explained bluntly, remembering reading through Rita Skeeter's 'Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore' book in his future.

"Remember the war with Grindlewald? Who did he manipulate to go and do his dirty work there? Newt Scamander, only a few years out of school and still under Dumbledore's thumb because he stood up for him when he was expelled." James explained with a sigh. "Who did he send to Godric's Hollow when Voldemort attacked? Hagrid. Think about that, it's somewhere he literally knows Voldemort has been, and probably could still be there, but who does he send? Someone who can't even use a wand to defend himself. Seriously, was he just trying to get Hagrid killed or what?"

Minerva frowned at that, but couldn't deny either of James' points.

"And Dumbledore's Order in the first war, all kids either in their last years of Hogwarts, or only a few years out of school and still believing he's the master of everything." James explained, rolling his eyes at the way Dumbledore had manipulated things. "It should have been Aurors and trained War Wizards fighting Voldemort, not kids that are barely out of school."

"The first war?" Minerva asked, raising her eyebrow at that seemingly out of place comment.

"You think a second one isn't about to start?" James replied quickly to cover up his mistake during his rant before moving on so Minerva couldn't press the point. "So no, I haven't seen the old fart, and I have no intention of breaking that streak of good luck any time soon. He'll get what he deserves, but I'm not spending time running around after him when I've got other more pressing things to deal with." He explained bluntly, changing the track of the conversation back to where it had originally started.

"As you wish," Minerva frowned but nodded curtly, knowing by now that James had rather strong and antagonistic views towards Albus for several reasons, nearly all of which she couldn't refute in the slightest. "I assume your day went well then Miss Tonks?" She asked, looking over at the witch in question.

"Pretty wicked," Tonks nodded. "Tiring, but yeah, it was fun Professor."

"Minerva, please." Minerva gave a thin lipped smile back. "At least when we are away from the students."

"Um, that's going to get some getting used to." Tonks admitted, looking at Minerva and trying the name out in her head for a few times, wrinkling her nose at how strange it felt to attach a first name to someone who'd been her professor for the last seven years.

"It gets easier," James explained, looking over at Tonks and smirking at her expression.

"Miss Tonks performed admirably during your lessons then?" Minerva asked, looking to James now for his appraisal of his new apprentice.

"Yeah, she did alright." James nodded over with a shrug. "Give me a few weeks to get her upto scratch on the higher level stuff and she'll be set." He mused aloud.

"It was fun, you know, after he introduced me as She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and probably scared the knickers off of half of the firsties." Tonks explained with a mock glare over towards James.

"I see James' sense of humour remains as much of a problem as ever then," Minerva sighed in frustration, rubbing her temples as she imagined the scene and catching James smirking over at them both. "Very well then, I shall see you both at the evening meal."

"Sure," James replied before Minerva headed out of the classroom, he didn't really have any plans to head out of the castle tonight anyway, so unless Amelia got in touch with anything, he was planning for a relaxing night of it.

"You really get used to calling Professor McGonagall that?" Tonks asked once she was sure Minerva was out of earshot range.

"In a few months," James admitted as he hopped off the desk, moving over to grab his coat and the pile of parchments he'd collected today from the assignments last week. "Come on, lets get out of here." He said with a grin as Tonks practically bounced out of her seat to grab her own coat from the coat-rack at the rear of the classroom. "You got anything planned for tonight?"

"Dunno," Tonks shrugged as she followed James out of the classroom, watching as he flicked his wand to lock it behind him. "Mum asked me to run down and see her in the dungeons, guess she wants to know how today went."

"Probably," James mused aloud as he led the way down the third floor corridor towards their living areas. "Say hi from me and Sirius, I'll have to prod the old dog and see if he's actually written back to her yet."

"Mum'd like that," Tonks smiled as James opened the door into his office, leading the way in and dumping down the stack of parchments on his desk. "Wow, yours is much bigger than mine." She breathed out, looking around the office and then poking her head through to investigate and living room beyond. "You get a floo too?" She demanded, catching sight of the fireplace before heading back into the office area.

"Yup," James grinned over at her as he took off his jacket and threw it over his desk chair.

"What's with the huge mirror?" Tonks grinned, walking past the big mirror that was on the wall by the door, overlooking the entire office. "You can't tell me you spent time in front of that every morning making sure your hair is just the right amount of messy?" She asked with a small smirk.

"Smart arse," James smirked back, thumbing the parchments on his desk. "Read the course books first, Minerva's probably already put copies of them in your room. When you've read them, you can start marking some of these too." He said with a small nod towards her.

"Ugh, do I have to?" Tonks whined over, eyeing the parchments with disgust. "I thought homework was over now that I'd finished here."

"Well, now you're marking it instead of doing it." James responded with a grin before leaning back and sitting on his desk. "So, what's the real reason you wanted to do this thing then? And don't give me that story about finding a job at Malkins, we both know you could do pretty much anything you put your mind to." He said with a firm look towards her.

"I still want to get into the Aurors," Tonks shrugged back. "But I didn't get the scores to get into the academy this year."

"So?" James asked, raising an eyebrow at that.

"When mum mentioned being your apprentice, I figured it'd be worth it." Tonks explained. "Teaching isn't my thing I guess, but learning from you? Getting to know all those Dark Lord killing tricks you've got up your sleeve?" She said with a grin. "Mad-Eye signed off on me at the academy, he's always been the best but the last month or so he's been off about everything, you know, even more than usual for him, but any Auror in their right mind would jump at the chance to learn the stuff you're throwing around. Merlin, you're already teaching me how to cast a Patronus. I'd have trouble finding someone to teach me that sort of stuff outside of paying through the nose for it."

"So you'll do the teaching thing for a while, until I've taught you what you need to know, then try for the Aurors again?" James mused aloud.

"Probably," Tonks shrugged back. "I know mum doesn't want me to join up, but it's what I want to do. Take the fight to the dark bastards, show them that they can't just do whatever they want without someone standing in their way." She explained with a grin over to James. "Since that's what you're doing, I figure helping you is just as good as being in the Aurors anyway."

"Probably," James parroted back, piecing together now why Tonks would have joined up with Dumbledore in his old life. Since back then The Ministry were six shades of useless, it was clear she'd have run straight to Dumbledore as he was the only one seen as actually doing anything. Between that and Dumbledore's 'in' with Moody, it was easy to see where he would have been able to get his claws into her. "Alright, I was just curious."

"That alright then?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah, do whatever you want." James nodded over. "Auror is a tough life though, you'll get a lot of bad with it if you join up, and nowhere near enough good to balance it out."

"Kinda want to figure that stuff out for myself," Tonks said with a small shrug.

"Fair enough," James nodded thoughtfully. "Alright, read through the course books and write down anything you want to learn and brush up on, I'll spend some time teaching you what you want when we're free from the classroom."

"Thanks boss!" Tonks beamed happily at that.

"Whatever," James shook his head with a grin, standing up from his desk and wandlessly summoning one of his more advanced defence books from the shelf and handing it over to Tonks for her to read. "I'll want these back in decent condition alright?" He said firmly, making sure Tonks was listening to him as he handed over the book.

"Sure thing," Tonks nodded very quickly as she accepted the book reverently. "You going to teach me that too? The wandless stuff?"

"I'm actually pretty crap at that," James admitted with a small grimace. "Really, I learnt about five spells wandlessly, that's about it." He explained, ticking them off on his hand as he thought about it. "Summoning, banishing, dispelling, lumos, and a weak shield that a first year's sneeze could probably break. That's it."

Sadly wandless magic was something he'd never been able to get a good handle on, unlike Hermione who had started practising wandless magic in her sixth year and continued on right through until she'd left the magical world behind.

"Bet that takes tons of power," Tonks frowned thoughtfully. "Wish I could do it."

"It's actually more about skill and practice than magical power," James explained. "Add it to the list of stuff you want to learn and we'll see what we can do."

"Sweet!" Tonks nodded enthusiastically at that. "I'll stick this in my room then go find mum then." She said with a grin down towards the book in her hand. "Thanks again boss!"

"Call me James," James muttered, waving lazily as Tonks headed towards the door.

"Not Master?" Tonks asked back cheekily.

"There's no way I'm having you call me that with your mum and Amelia around. You'd end up twisting it with enough innuendo to get me in trouble every time you opened your mouth." James shot back with a small smirk.

"Bit too kinky for you old man?" Tonks laughed over as she opened the door with a wicked smirk on her face.

"And you're little miss vanilla?" James snorted, shaking his head at the younger witch.

"You wound me!" Tonks grinned, happy that James was someone who could keep up with her verbal sparring. "I'm a metamorph, some of the stuff I've done would make you blush I'd bet!" She said with a wide grin.

"I'm a Parselmouth, ever been with a man who can vibrate his tongue whenever he wants?" James shot back with an equal grin. "Didn't think so." He laughed at Tonks' violently shocked face with eyes that she'd obviously used her metamorph talent to make inhumanly large. "Go and see your mum and try to keep that thought out of your head all night." He explained with a laugh as Tonks just stood there, staring at him in awe. "Go on, shoo!" He muttered, shooing Tonks towards the door with his hands before watching as she opened it in shock, leaving him to gently nudge her out of the room and close the door behind her, with her stood in the corridor, dumbly holding the book he'd given her as various extremely adult thoughts rampaged through her mind.

"Mum is never going to believe that!" Tonks whispered to herself in shock as she shook herself back to reality and walked off, still imagining a lot of very fun things that could be done with a gift like a vibrating tongue.

* * *

_**AN:** With regards to Wandless Magic, there's no way it is as rare and powerful as most fanon makes it out to be... we know from JK that there are magic schools in the wizarding world, like Uagadou, were wandless magic is the normal thing and wands are ignored completely._

_We know from Order of the Phoenix that Harry IS capable of wandless magic at 16, as he uses a Lumos wandlessly without issue, despite never having practised it before._

_So it's my belief that wandless magic is very similar to wanded magic, it might require more focus, but there's no real difference between the two. If it was drastically more powerful or gave a bigger advantage than wanded magic, then students with the money would transfer to a school that taught it rather than staying at Hogwarts._

_The only massive advantage wandless magic seems to give is that you can't be disarmed, and it's easier to get away with magic without breaking the statute of secrecy... that's about it really._


	27. Chapter 27

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Wednesday, 18th September**

**Defence Office**

**Hogwarts**

"Junior?"

James looked up from his pile of parchments at the call, cocking an eyebrow at hearing Sirius' voice calling through the floo from the other room. "Yeah, come on through." He called out automatically, finishing off marking one of the parchments as he heard the floo flare up and someone step through.

This morning had been quite quiet thankfully, giving him the chance to catch up with marking the third year essays he'd received yesterday and make plans for the second year lessons he had through today. "Sirius?" He asked, watching as Sirius came into the office room, looking around curiously at everything around the office.

"Nice place, swanky." Sirius grinned over in amusement, noticing the pile of parchments on his desk. "Can't believe you turned out to be a Professor." He gasped, shuddering in mock horror as he collapsed into one of the seats around the office and lazed there casually. "A figure of authority, oh the horror, the shame..." He howled dramatically, resting the back of his hand against his forehead.

"Did you actually want something, or are you just visiting to annoy me?" James asked, glaring over as he put the parchment essays aside for now.

"Can't I do both? But actually, yeah, kinda needed to know what to do with this." Sirius admitted with a sigh, dropping the act and tapping a rolled up newspaper on his knee. "Got another letter from Cissy this morning. Well, figure it's from Lucy again really, but he's writing through Cissy to keep his name out of it."

"Probably," James nodded in agreement. "Any idea what he wants?"

"No clue," Sirius muttered with a frown. "You know Cissy, she can write two pages of the stuff and still not end up saying anything worth a damn thing."

"Pretty sure she took lessons from Dumbledore in that," James snorted in amusement. "Alright, ask what he wants, if it's nothing too dodgy, can see what he's poking around for."

"Any ideas?" Sirius asked curiously, looking over at James now to see what he thought.

"A few," James mused, tapping his quill casually against his lips as he thought things through. "The attack on Godric's Hollow, he's probably trying to sell the names of the people behind it." He mused aloud before smirking in amusement. "He's trying to set himself up as a Snape." He explained when Sirius looked at him curiously.

"Snivellius?" Sirius asked, wondering what that greasy git had to do with anything.

"Snape was Dumbledore's spy in the Death Eaters." James explained with a shrug. "Sounds like Lucy is trying to buy his way into our good books and turn spy for us instead."

"Snivellius was a spy?" Sirius snorted out, shaking his head in amusement at that piece of information. "I don't buy it, he was a dark bastard even in school, when Lily told us he was a Death Eater, I believed it without a second thought, but I don't believe for one second that he changed sides over it."

"Me neither." James shrugged. "I'd bet good money that he was just playing both sides, so whoever won, he came out a winner."

"THAT sounds more like Snivellius." Sirius nodded in agreement. "And Lucy too. Snakes, the lot of them."

"If he's got anything we can use, I'll listen to him." James nodded thoughtfully. "He did hand over the horcrux he had, that's a pretty big leap to make just to try and stay on good terms with both sides."

"Still don't trust the slimy bastard." Sirius groused in complaint.

"Wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw Hagrid." James snorted in agreement. "Hear him out, if he's got anything worth listening too, I'll see what he wants in exchange."

"Sounds like dealing with the devil to me." Sirius muttered back.

"Probably," James nodded back. "But if he's heard something about what Voldemort's planning or where he's hiding out?" He mused thoughtfully. "Something like that could really help us."

"Yeah yeah, I just don't like dealing with snakes like this." Sirius muttered, shaking his head. "Lucy bought his way out of Azkaban last time around, everyone knows it."

"And if he starts getting up to his old tricks again, I'll blast his head clear off his shoulders without a second thought." James said firmly, making sure Sirius knew where he stood with this. "Just because he might be useful, doesn't mean I'm giving him a pass on anything else."

"Alright, guess I can listen to what the git has to say." Sirius nodded back.

"That's all we're doing." James nodded firmly.

"There's this too," Sirius said, holding up the rolled up paper in his hand. "Didn't know if you'd seen it yet?"

"No?" James asked, holding out his hand for the paper. "I had breakfast up here, didn't bother going down to the hall this morning." He said by way of explanation as Sirius handed the paper over.

"Don't get your own copy?" Sirius asked in amusement.

"And give the Daily Propaganda the time of day?" James snorted back, shaking his head. "If I need emergency toilet paper, I've got enough of Bathilda Bagshot's books around to see me through." He explained as he unrolled the newspaper and glanced at the headline. "The-Boy-Who-Lived?" He read aloud. "Question mark?" He asked curiously, looking at Sirius. "Reeta Skeeter I take it?"

"You want the quick story or want to read it yourself?" Sirius asked, nodding in confirmation of the author.

"Fill me in, I don't have time to wade through Skeeter's verbal diarrhoea at this time in the morning." James muttered, tossing the paper back to Sirius in disgust before reaching for his mug of luke-warm coffee and casting a heating charm over it.

"Mostly it's all back story fluff about Godric's Hollow and how Harry and you... you know what I mean, survived the attack back then." Sirius explained with a dark expression on his face. "Lot of bullshit about why Lily died, since she was the only muggle-born in the house, how could she have stood up to Voldemort anyway? That sort of pure blood crap."

"Anything else?" James asked firmly, clenching his teeth together as he considered what to do about this.

"Bunch of bullshit saying that Prongs and Lily must have been up to something dark to protect the house like that, and that Voldy interrupted one of their dark rituals, that's what blew him sky high like that." Sirius explained. "Questioning if Harry, you, really did survive the killing curse since everyone's thinking Prongs survived as well now. She's all but calling James and Lily dark, saying he targeted them because he didn't want the competition. It's the biggest pile of shit I've seen since my old Care of Magical Creatures lessons when we had a heard of Hippogriffs taking dumps in the forest." He said bluntly. "I'm not letting her get away with this shit, not saying crap like that about Prongs and Lily."

"Definitely not." James muttered with a dark frown, considering all the ways he could actually deal with Skeeter this time around. "Alright, lunch time we'll..." He trailed off as there was a knock on his office door, causing both him and Sirius to flick their attention over to it. "Yes?" He called out, waiting a beat before the door opened, admitting Minerva and someone else he didn't recognise behind her.

"James, do you... ah, I apologise, I didn't realise you were busy." Minerva said with a small nod over to Sirius. "It is good to see you are recovering well from your ordeal Mr Black." She said, favouring Sirius with a small smile as he stood up from his chair.

"Getting there," Sirius admitted with a grin. "Couldn't believe you offered this prat a job though." He smirked, nodding over to Junior with a wide grin.

"Sadly needs must," Minerva said wryly, looking between the two of them. "Good Merlin, it's just like the seventies all over again." She muttered to herself, shaking her head at the sight.

"Hey!" James muttered in defence, frowning over at the pair as he paid close attention to the smaller and frail looking wizard that was standing behind Minerva and watching the interactions with pale blue eyes.

He was old, with a capital O. The sort of old that made Dumbledore look like a first year student. His face was gaunt and thin looking, with white hair falling down to his shoulders that matched the rather drab and faded cream robes he was wearing.

"Ah yes, may I have the pleasure of introducing Nicolas Flamel to you both." Minerva said quickly, catching on to where James' attention really was. "Mr Flamel came to retrieve his property, and asked for the full story of what happened that night. Upon hearing what had happened, he requested time to meet you."

"Honour to meet you," James said with a surprised smile, standing up from his desk and stepping over to offer his hand to Nicolas.

"Minerva told me about your confrontation with my old apprentice." Nicolas said in a dusty and soft voice as he shook the offered hand gently. "I must thank you for protecting my property like that."

"It was nothing," James smiled over. "Honestly, I was more focused on Voldemort and Dumbledore than I was the stone."

"Yet you knew it was there, and made no effort to claim it for yourself?" Nicolas asked curiously, looking James over and appraising him with a glint in his eye.

"Who wants to live forever?" James asked rhetorically with a small smirk. "Please?" He asked, gesturing to one of the seats in his office as Sirius stepped away quickly, clearing way for the ancient alchemist to make his way to a chair, and watching with an awestruck expression on his face.

"May I leave Mr Flamel in your capable hands then gentlemen?" Minerva asked, casting a mild glare to both James and Sirius in warning for them both to behave themselves. "Unfortunately I have other duties that need my attention this morning, or I would stay and talk with you both."

"Of course," James nodded quickly, looking at Sirius and seeing him holding his hands up in surrender in response to Minerva's glare.

"Very well," Minerva nodded with pursed lips as she evaluated both James and Sirius. "Do send a elf if you require my presence, but for now..." She paused looking back to Nicolas. "It was an honour to meet you sir."

"The pleasure was all mine my dear," Nicolas chuckled with a raspy voice, causing Minerva to gently blush before she nodded back and hurried out of the room, closing the office door behind her.

"Do you want a drink or anything? Tea? Coffee?" James asked, looking over at Nicolas Flamel in awe for a second. He'd never thought he would actually meet the famous immortal alchemist like this, let alone hearing that Flamel had actually come here and sought him out in person.

"I am fine, thank you for your concern though." Nicolas nodded politely back. "I notice you took Albus' wand when you defeated him." He said, his eyes never leaving the wand on James' desk.

"The wand came to me," James said, catching his breath when he realised Nicolas Flamel very likely knew the truth about the wand's history as well.

"Your friend is trustworthy then?" Nicolas asked, sparing a dry glance over to Sirius who was watching the by play with a curious look on his face.

"Trustworthy? Never, but he's loyal, I probably owe him more than that though." James chuckled with a small nod, drawing an offended glare from Sirius.

"You know where Albus received that wand then? The truth behind it?" Nicolas asked in the same crusty voice as he returned his attention to James. "The real truth, not the fabricated stories that everyone believes and quotes when they talk about the war."

"He took it from Grindlewald before locking him up in Nurmengard." James nodded back, ignoring the shocked and strangled sound coming from Sirius.

"Not many people are aware of that," Nicolas said, twitching his head to the side as he looked James over more thoroughly this time. "Most believe that Albus killed Gellert in the war."

"He wouldn't kill anyone if he could get away with it, especially not his old boyfriend." James said with a small shrug as he moved to the desk, sitting on it next to the wand and doing his best to ignore Sirius' horrified reactions.

"He visits twice a year still, offering redemption he knows Gellert will never accept." Nicolas nodded over with a sad expression on his face. "Do you know why he took the wand for his own?"

"The same reason he tried to take the cloak from my family." James said after a moment's pause, deciding for himself that learning anything from someone like Nicolas Flamel was worth the risk of revealing a few secrets.

"I see," Nicolas nodded slowly. "You know the history of both of the artifacts I assume?" He asked with a curious expression on his face. "The truth of the family they originally belonged to?"

"There's the children's story, it's just a story though, I don't believe it for a second." James said with a small smile, ignoring the way Sirius was looking at him and practically demanding an explanation now.

"You don't believe?" Nicolas asked curiously.

"In who the story says made them?" James shrugged. "Probably not." He admitted. "I think it's more likely just to be a story they made up to bolster their fame. Make themselves seem more important than they really were."

"An intriguing hypothesis Mr Potter." Nicolas slowly nodded at that. "And the story of someone that could wield all three?"

"Just a story." James said with a shake of his head, unable to stop the feeling that he could almost hear Nicholas Flamel's bones grinding against each other with every movement.

"Ah, I see, you have the stone as well then." Nicolas said with a small smile of acceptance. "Albus was searching for that for quite some time. It became somewhat of an obsession of his."

"I always thought he wanted it just to call back his sister, maybe apologise to her." James nodded, seeing no point in denying it now, especially not to someone like Nicolas Flamel. "It explains why he's so big on forgiveness, it's the one thing he wants more than anything, and it's something he'll never get."

"From his sister, or from you?" Nicolas asked curiously, tilting his head to the side as he scrutinised James thoroughly.

"Both, neither." James said after a moment, staring across and locking eyes with Nicholas.

"I heard he has wronged you greatly, do not rush to call vengeance on him for his crimes." Nicolas said softly.

"I won't, and it won't be vengeance, it'll be justice. I'll simply return everything he's done to me on him." James nodded back. "He's way down on my list of things to deal with. If he stays out of my way, I'll stay out of his." He explained calmly.

"I am sure Albus will appreciate that," Nicolas chuckled raspingly back.

"He'll live longer anyway." James mused aloud, inwardly chuckling that he'd already destroyed the cursed ring and saved Dumbledore's life anyway, and he'd done it without Dumbledore even knowing he was saving his life in the process. The irony was almost annoying.

"I'm certain he will," Nicolas said softly in reply. "Coming from The Master, I'm certain that means more than even you know."

"It really doesn't," James muttered, shaking his head in response. "You knew what he was really like then, Dumbledore. Not the eccentric old grandfather mask he puts on for everyone?" He asked, changing the topic of conversation bluntly.

"He never could fool me," Nicolas slowly nodded. "But then, we all wear our masks, don't we?" He asked, eyeing James curiously.

"Probably," James admitted, looking away from Nicolas' piercing eyes.

"He was a good man once, I can see that you never saw it, but it is the truth." Nicolas said with a look of regret on his face. "Like others before him, he fell to the promise of power and began to believe his own legend." He explained in a dry and dusty voice. "You, most of all, must know that power corrupts."

"Only if it's used for evil." James replied, turning his attention back to Nicholas.

"There is no good, or evil." Nicolas shook his head. "Only the appearance and viewpoint of both." He said softly. "What is good for you, a dragon might disagree with."

"Fair point," James admitted. "But things like manipulating peoples lives? Planning for innocent children to die? Destroying people to further one persons cause?" He pointed out. "I never believed in Dumbledore's greater good, and I'm not going to start to now. Dumbledore was someone that'd allow children to be abused and killed if it got him further to his goals, as long as he kept his hands clean and it worked towards his plans, he'd just turn a blind eye to it."

"You wouldn't sacrifice a single life to save a hundred?" Nicolas asked curiously.

"My life? I'd take that curse without thinking about it. To save a hundred innocent kids? To save ten? To save just one? It wouldn't make a difference." James said firmly. "But there's a difference in sacrificing myself, or manipulating someone else to do it without telling them."

"The difference between what is right, and what is easy." Nicolas nodded back. "You would chose what is right."

"I never took the easy path." James said with a small smirk of his lips.

"No, Albus always chose what was easy." Nicolas nodded with a sigh of regret. "What was easy for him, and what was hardest for those he believed he had the right to control. He always thought that right must equal difficult, purely because it was in balance to easy." He explained softly. "I am happy to see you are not the same type of man." He said with a small nod. "Though he was never evil, misguided and manipulative certainly, but he never acted out of spite or for evil. The reasons for his actions may not make sense to anyone but him, but they were certainly never for evil."

"Anyone that lets child abuse go on when they could have stopped it is evil, so you could have fooled..." James trailed off, looking up at another knock at his office door. "I swear, it's like Kings Cross in here this morning." He muttered as he stood up from his desk, heading over and opening the door, then glancing down in surprise as he saw Hermione standing there, nervously holding a Defence text book in her arms as she looked up at him.

"Professor? Um, is this a bad time?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"Probably not," James chuckled down, stepping back into his office with a small grin as he thought about the thrill he was about to give the young witch as he beckoned her to follow through into his office.

"Oh! Oh I'm sorry, I can just..."

"Hermione, stop." James chuckled, holding his hand up to stop Hermione from running out of the office. "This is Sirius Black." He said, introducing Sirius who was watching the interaction curiously. "And Nicolas Flamel." He introduced after a moment's pause, watching as Hermione squeaked in shock and her eyes went wide at that introduction. "This is Hermione Granger, the smartest witch in her year, actually the smartest witch I've ever known, by quite a bit really." He explained with a small smirk.

"My pleasure young lady," Nicolas smiled gently up at her.

"Hey," Sirius nodded over, catching James' eye with a questioning glare.

"She's going to outdo all of Dumbledore's records, I can promise you that." James grinned over, knowing full well from his future that Hermione actually managed better on her NEWT's than Dumbledore did, and that was with her taking a year out for the Horcrux hunt and everything else that had happened during their school years.

"A witch to keep my eye on then," Nicolas said, favouring Hermione with an appraising smile of his own. "One you are looking for as an apprentice of your own perhaps? To pass on your legacy too?" He asked, staring across at James with an intense look in his eyes.

"No," James shook his head, drawing a shocked look from Hermione in the process. "Her specialities are more brainy than I could ever dream of catching up with. She's too smart to get stuck in my style of martial magic, it'd be a waste of that big brain of hers." He explained with a chuckle as Hermione blushed vibrantly at the praise. "She's more talented when it comes to Charms and Potions, things like Arithmancy and Enchanting are going to be second nature to her."

"I see," Nicolas nodded, accepting James' reasons as he returned his attention to Hermione now. "I myself dabbled in martial magics for some time, back in the seventeen hundreds. That was an interesting few decades, but unfortunately I failed to find any satisfaction in the art." He explained with a dry laugh.

"Actually..." James mused aloud, looking to his bookshelf and thumbing down the various charms, curses, wards and defence books he had until he came to the very small section he had on Alchemy at the bottom. Finding the book he was after he pulled it out quickly, smirking as he identified Nicolas Flamel's name embossed along the spine as the author. "Would you mind?" He asked with a cheeky grin, opening the book and holding it out for Nicolas while grabbing a quill in his other hand.

"It has been a long time since I wrote this." Nicolas chuckled dryly, taking the quill and looking up at James, catching his eye flicking over to Hermione before giving him a small smile and a nod, then signing the inside cover of the book with a declaration to Hermione. "Three hundred years I think, perhaps more." He said softly as James turned the book around, reading the inscription with a smile before blowing on the ink to dry it, then retrieving his wand to cast a preservation charm over the front page. "Yes, the sixteen hundreds, I'm certain of it." He said as he scrutinised the cover of the book in James' hands.

"Close to four hundred years then," James smiled back, holding the book out for Hermione to gingerly take with shaking hands. "Look after it." He said with a wink as Hermione looked up at him in shock, her mouth opening and shutting without any words coming out as she gingerly opened the book and stared in awe at the inscription inside with her name scrawled above it.

"I'm certain we have more to say to each other, but my time here today is limited." Nicolas interrupted, giving James a nod of approval. "You are a very surprising man, and to my pleasant surprise, a worthwhile man." He explained with an curious glance. "We will talk again soon young Master. There are things that even you do not know of yet, perhaps things that will surprise even you." He said, turning his attention to James and then to Hermione. "The pleasure was mine young lady. I'm certain we shall meet again in the years to come." He said with a small smile, before vanishing silently from the chair, without even a pop or crack of apparition, he was simply gone.

"I swear, the older they get, the sneakier they get." James chuckled, leaning back and sitting on his desk in amazement at what had just happened.

"That... that... that was really Nicolas Flamel?" Hermione croaked out, still staring at the book in her hands in amazement.

"You know about Nicolas Flamel already?" James asked, raising an eyebrow to Hermione.

"He... I've read all about him of course, just some light reading while the others were working on their Potions homework that I'd already finished... But... you... he..." Hermione tumbled out, unable to understand exactly what had just happened.

"Light reading?" Sirius gaped at her. "Anything that mentions Flamel isn't going to be light reading."

"Any book she considers light reading, you'd consider a deadly weapon." James shot back with a grin. "You'll want to keep that safe," He chuckled, reaching over and closing the book in Hermione's hands gently, watching as she cradled it with an awestruck expression on her face. "I don't think he signs many books out there, so that's one of a kind." He said softly.

"It's priceless!" Hermione breathed out reverently. "I'll pay you back! For the book! I mean, I'll..."

"It's a present," James chuckled, shaking his head at her. "Now, what did you actually want?" He asked curiously.

"I... Um..." Hermione stammered out, torn between looking at the book in her hands and up to Professor Potter. "I can't remember." She squeaked after a moment, causing both James and Sirius to chuckle at her panicked face.

"You broke your little firstie," Sirius laughed, relaxing in his chair and watching in amusement.

"Go and put that in your trunk somewhere safe," James laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "Come and find me when you remember what you wanted alright?" He asked, receiving a very quick flurry of nods from Hermione in response.

"Nice meeting you," Sirius laughed over with a casual wave as James stood up to open the door for Hermione to walk out of, still with a shocked and somewhat disbelieving expression on her face as she shuffled her way out into the corridor.

"Think she's going to be alright?" James asked with a small smirk over to Sirius as he lent on the door, watching as Hermione was walking away in small steps like a zombie.

"I wasn't joking, I actually do think you broke her," Sirius laughed over. "Bloody Nicolas Flamel? How in the name of Merlin's pants did that happen?"

"I've got no idea," James laughed, ruffling his messy hair in amazement. "I never met him before, he... I've got no idea." He exclaimed with another laugh. "I always thought he died, after... well, Dumbledore said that he destroyed the stone, so I thought the Flamels had both died afterwards. If you trust Dumbledore on that though, which as I'm saying it sounds pretty damn unlikely."

"Why's he here?" Sirius asked as James closed the office door.

"Dumbledore had the Philosopher's Stone, well, his stone I guess." James said as he returned to his desk and sat on it, still a bit stunned over what had just happened. "I guess he was here to collect it this time instead of Dumbles smashing it or keeping it for himself."

"Merlin," Sirius breathed out. "And that stuff about Grindlewald?"

"A long story," James admitted.

"Grindlewald's still alive?" Sirius demanded.

"Yeah, he's locked up in Nurmengard." James nodded over. "Dumbledore didn't kill him, that's just what he lets everyone think." He explained with a shrug. "Like anyone would actually believe he killed his old boyfriend." He said with a snort and a shake of his head.

"That... I have no idea what to say to that." Sirius muttered to himself, surprised at that piece of information.

"I didn't know until after the war, my time anyway." James mused aloud. "Six or seven years, something like that. Voldemort tracked him down and destroyed the place, he was after Grindlewald as well."

"Bugger me," Sirius frowned over. "He broke Grindlewald out?"

"Killed him," James corrected, seeing the surprised look on Sirius' face. "Can you see Voldemort sharing power with anyone?"

"Probably not," Sirius admitted with a grimace at the thought of both Grindlewald and Voldemort running free.

"Grindlewald's war was world wide, Voldemort's a little fish compared to him. He never even took his war out of the country." James shrugged over as he glanced up at the clock on the wall. "I've got a second year class in a minute." He said, changing the subject as he pulled his coat off the rack and shrugged it on, pocketing his wand for now.

"So..." Sirius grinned, standing up as James opened the door, letting them both out into the empty corridor ahead. "That's her then? Your muggle-born?"

"She's not mine," James said firmly, glaring at Sirius as he closed the office door and locked it behind him.

"You know what I mean," Sirius smirked back. "Things going well with the pup and her then?"

"They're friends," James nodded as he walked, letting Sirius walk alongside him down towards the defence classroom. "To be honest, he's probably being a better friend to her than I was to her back then." He admitted.

"She seems nice, bit bookish." Sirius shrugged. "Doesn't really stand out or anything. With you and Amelia, and Julia, figured you were into blondes and girls with more up top?" He said, moving his hands around in front of his chest to indicate both Amelia and Julia's larger assets.

"She's the only one that stood by my through everything, literally." James said firmly, ignoring Sirius' comment about Amelia's chest. "She was there when everyone else abandoned me, she even lost her parents, everything because of it. She ended up with nothing, and walking away from the magical world after sacrificing everything for a world that still treated her like shit." He bit out, giving Sirius a mild glare.

"I was just saying..." Sirius said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender.

"If it's a choice, between letting the pure blood bigots stay in charge, and me taking Harry, her, and a few others away from all of this? Letting Voldemort destroy the Ministry and take over?" James frowned over at him. "I'll burn down the Ministry myself and open the doors for him." He said firmly as he walked into the empty defence classroom.

"You can't mean that Junior." Sirius said in shock.

"I'm serious," James said firmly. "I gave them twenty years to change. Twenty years to stop being bigoted arseholes and deal with the corruption and all the shit that's practically running this world." He explained as he moved to the desk at the front of his classroom. "That's more than enough time. What's this world ever done for me? Lies and bullshit, a dead family, lost chances and a bunch of sheep who happily believe whatever lie is printed the longest." He explained bluntly. "I don't owe them shit." He bit out. "What did the world ever give you? A bigoted family, bullshit and abusive arseholes. A corrupt government and a decade in jail for a crime you didn't even commit."

"But... you said there was a prophecy?" Sirius frowned over.

James quickly glanced around, making sure he couldn't see anyone out of the door in the corridor before he shrugged. "The prophecy says I'm the only one who can defeat Voldemort."

"So?" Sirius frowned over.

"CAN," James emphasised. "Not will, not has to, not will bloody well be forced into it." He explained. "Just because I can, doesn't mean I have to."

"But... that... you have to!" Sirius shouted over.

"I told Amelia all this, I'll deal with Voldemort if everyone else deals with the pure blood shit in this country." James explained with a shrug. "I'm not risking my life to face Voldemort again for a country that treats muggle-borns like something they've scraped off of their shoe."

"And if they don't?" Sirius demanded.

"Then Voldemort can have them, they deserve him." James said bluntly, looking past Sirius to see the corridor outside where students were starting to walk past now. "The kids'll be here in a minute. I'll come to The Manor at lunch time, then we can deal with Skeeter and The Prophet."

Sirius simply nodded dumbly at that, not really sure how to respond to what Junior was telling him.

"You can..." James trailed off as he saw Tonks coming into the classroom. "Either catch up with Tonks, or head back to the manor, doesn't bother me which."

"Tonks?" Sirius asked, spinning around to see the pink haired metamorph in question staring at him in confusion.

"Sirius?" Tonks asked in shock, flicking her eyes between James and Sirius.

"Take him, get him to show you the passage through to honey-dukes." James muttered, fishing a few galleons out of his pocket and handing them over to Tonks as she came over. "I want some chocolate and some butterbeers for the office." He said with a small smirk as Tonks took the galleons.

"Right'o boss." Tonks grinned over.

"Wait, you're little Nympha..."

"Don't call me that!" Tonks glared over, making sure Sirius got the message as her hair flushed red. "Come on, lets get out of here before he ropes us into being his target dummies for the day." She said with a smirk over to James as she led the still confused and bewildered Sirius out of the classroom and back into the corridor.

"I swear..." James muttered to himself as he paced around his desk, watching until Tonks and Sirius had left the room before he pulled his coat off and tossed it over his desk, pulling his wand out and casting a wide warming charm over the entire room in preparation for his first lesson of the day.

Thinking about Nicolas Flamel, the Deathly Hallows, and what he should actually tell Sirius about them could wait, at least until after lunch, and certainly until after he'd dealt with Rita Skeeter.

For now though, he had an entire class of sixth year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws to teach, and in retrospect, he'd much rather take dealing with a Dark Lord instead of forty or so twelve year old kids.

* * *

**Hogwarts Library**

**Hogwarts**

**Lunchtime**

"You alright?"

Hermione looked up from her book in a daze as she recognised the voice that was addressing her, spotting Daphne and her friend approaching she tried to give them a small smile at least.

"Just asking, you didn't say anything at lunch, then you're... well..." Daphne trailed off, gesturing to where Hermione was sat at the library table simply staring at the book in front of her with a blank expression on her face. "Weasley saying stuff again?"

"No," Hermione shook her head at that, both her and Neville had ignored Ronald Weasley completely when he'd tried to bug them into helping him with his homework over the last few days. The ginger boy was still apparently in a huff about it, but after seeing Harry with Hermione and Neville as friends had decided not to push the matter any further.

"What's wrong then?" Daphne asked curiously, sitting down at the table and making space for Tracey to join them. "Advanced Alchemy and Transmutation?" She asked aloud, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow as she read the title of the book in front of Hermione. "Aren't you jumping ahead a bit there with reading that sort of stuff?" She asked curiously.

"I... I went to ask Professor Potter about... I wanted to know what he meant by all the intent stuff he was talking about in our lesson about the knockback jinx." Hermione admitted quietly.

"Right?" Daphne nodded thoughtfully, she didn't understand intent based casting fully herself either, so she could understand why Hermione would have asked for a better explanation of it. "And?"

"He... he was in a meeting with Nicolas Flamel." Hermione explained in a whisper, the awe evident in her voice as she continued to stare down at the book in front of her.

"Wait... THE Nicolas Flamel?" Daphne demanded, looking between Hermione and the book in front of her. "The Alchemist? The Immortal? The..."

"Yes," Hermione cut her off, nodding sharply. Happy that someone else was equally as stunned at this as she was. "He... he signed the book and gave it to me." She whispered.

"That... wow," Daphne breathed out, sitting back in her chair as she contemplated this piece of news. "What were they talking about?" She asked, thinking hard now as the ramifications of this filtered through into her brain.

"Who's Nicolas Flamel?" Tracey asked firmly, looking between the two and getting a bit annoyed at being the only one at the table who apparently didn't know what was going on her.

"An alchemist, really really famous. He's over six hundred years old, he's a genius." Daphne rattled off quickly.

"He invented the Philosophers Stone, it makes the Elixir of Life, he's basically immortal because of it." Hermione nodded in confirmation.

"It can turn anything into gold as well, don't forget that." Daphne pointed out thoughtfully. "Wonder why he was here?"

"He was there with someone called Sirius Black?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Just as famous, or infamous I should say." Daphne nodded thoughtfully as Hermione looked over to her with a expression that demanded the information she needed. "Sirius Black was a friend of Professor Potter's before the war. He ended up in prison, it was a corrupt Ministry Worker that threw him in jail though, it was a big scandal just before we started school." She explained.

"Wow," Hermione breathed out, frowning as she contemplated the fact that apparently the Ministry of Magic had their own problems with corruption.

"The Potter's are really famous for potions, I'll bet they must have known Nicolas Flamel for years now." Daphne mused thoughtfully. "With how closely alchemy and potions are linked, it'd make sense that they knew each other like that."

"Professor Potter's famous for potions?" Hermione asked. "I haven't read anything that says that."

"Not Professor Potter, his father." Daphne pointed out. "Fleamont Potter, but The Potter's invented tons of the potions that people sell today, from Sleekeazy's Hair Potion to Skele-Gro." She explained. "They've always been famous potioneers, it's in their blood."

"In their blood?" Hermione wrinkled her nose as she asked the question. "What does on earth that mean?"

"A lot of the old families are like that," Tracey explained with a shrug and a sideways nod towards Daphne. "Like the Ollivander's, they've been wandmakers for centuries, it's in their blood." She explained with a shrug.

"Good example," Daphne nodded in agreement. "Professor Vector's family have been Arithmancy Masters for a few generations as well. Magic just follows patterns like that, like some families will be better at charms, or potions, or enchanting, others will be better at other things." She explained with a small smile.

"Magic can run in families like that?" Hermione asked, frowning at the thought.

"Oh yeah," Tracey nodded happily. "Just like the Malfoy's blonde hair, Daphne's family have been great with ice magic since her great grandmother's time."

"Cryomancy," Daphne smirked at her friend who could never remember the name of it. "Mum'll start helping me get better at it when I'm older." She explained. "Professor Potter's family must just be good enough to be friends with Nicolas Flamel and probably other famous potioneers and alchemists." She said with a small shrug.

"That... I didn't know magic could run in families like that." Hermione explained with a frown, not liking that gap in her knowledge at all. "The books don't mention anything like that."

"They do, it's just talked about in more of the NEWT's stuff I think." Daphne mused aloud. "Look up things like Metamorphmagus, that's probably the most famous one. Professor Potter's new assistant is one, that's why her hair keeps changing colour all the time." She explained with a smile.

"I thought that was just some sort of charm?" Hermione asked, really curious now about this new side of magic she hadn't heard about before.

"Nope," Tracey shook her head. "I heard the Black family used to have tons of metamorphs, but there hasn't been one in the family for ages now. It's like really advanced transfiguration, she can make herself look like anything, anyone she wants, I'm so jealous of her." She explained with a small pout at the idea.

"She's a shapeshifter?" Hermione whispered in awe.

"A good name for it," Daphne mused, not being familiar with the term but thinking it quite fit what a metamorph really was.

"What is your family famous for then?" Hermione asked, looking at Tracey now and hoping to learn more.

"Nothing really," Tracey sighed, shaking her head. "My gran's a muggleborn, on my dads side, and my mum's one too. I'm only the third generation with magic in my family, so I haven't got any idea what I'll be a good at yet." She explained with a shrug.

"Me neither," Hermione frowned, looking around the library. "Professor Potter seemed to think I'd be good at charms and arithmancy, he said he wouldn't take me on as an apprentice in martial magic." She explained, looking disappointed at the comment Professor Potter had made.

"Spellcrafting and enchanting then?" Daphne whistled in appreciation. "He must think you're really good at delicate and precise work then. That's some of the hardest magic out there."

"It is?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Merlin yeah," Tracey nodded in agreement. "It doesn't take much skill to cast curses and hexes at each other, just magical power really, but learning to enchant things and weaving charms into stuff? That takes some serious skill." She explained. "If Professor Potter thinks you're good at it, you should give it a go and see. He doesn't seem the type of person to try and get you looking into something that wouldn't do you any good."

"I still can't believe you've got an alchemy book signed by Nicolas Flamel," Daphne whispered, staring at the book in awe. "You'll have to keep it somewhere safe."

"I was going to put it in my trunk, but I wanted to read it first." Hermione explained with a smile. "It's really fascinating. Mr Flamel said he wrote it sometime in the sixteen hundreds." She said wistfully. "I can't imagine what sort of things he must have seen. Six hundred years old, the world must feel so different to him."

"I bet he gets bored really easily," Tracey explained with a small laugh when Daphne and Hermione looked at her in surprise. "What, he's six hundred years old? Do you think there's anything out there he hasn't seen, tried, or done yet?" She asked in amusement.

"That... I hadn't thought of that." Hermione frowned, thinking about what she would be like if she'd lived for six hundred years. "He must know things nobody else alive does."

"Probably," Daphne agreed easily with that. "I wonder if he'll come back to visit Professor Potter again, I'd love to be able to talk to him and ask him some questions."

"Me too!" Hermione beamed across in agreement.

As Tracey laughed at the two intellectuals meeting, she happily settled back in the library chair to watch as Daphne and Hermione continued chatting about what questions they'd like to ask Nicolas Flamel and what sort of answers they would likely get from him.

All three of them failed to spot the two Slytherins sat a few tables away, one blonde haired and one with black hair, both paying very close attention to everything that was said by the three girls and watching with thinly veiled disgust at their friendship.

* * *

**Defence Classroom**

**Hogwarts**

Sirius Black was torn between amused, proud, and shocked as he stood in the doorway at the back of the classroom watching as Junior actually taught the sixth year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class. He was only going over simple stuff really, shields and disarming charms, stuff that the kids should have mastered last year really, but it seemed quite a few of them were still struggling with it in the first few weeks of their NEWT year.

Shopping with Nymphadora around Hogsmeade had been a welcome distraction as well as a nice chance for him to actually spend some time with his niece, and she'd been more than happy to constantly badger him with questions about Junior, his skills and what sort of magic he could teach her, along with asking for funny stories and gossip about him.

Returning to the class with a large bag full of chocolate and butterbeer had been the end of their fun trip out, but as Nymphadora returned to helping Junior out in the classroom, she'd arranged for another day out with her mum and Sirius next time, so she could be there and have fun when Sirius and her mum met properly for the first time since he'd been locked up in Azkaban.

Watching Junior teach was a bit of a shock to Sirius' system, as much as he'd joked about it and been amused by him becoming a figure of authority, it was surprising to see just how good he really was at teaching. It was clear that the kids loved learning from him, they were all practically sat on the edge of their seats as he talked and walked them through the different types of shields and how their intent could change how they cast properly.

"He is quite something, isn't he?"

Sirius looked around in amusement, raising an eyebrow as he saw Professor McGonagall walking down the third floor corridor towards him.

"Never thought I'd see him be a professor, that's for sure." Sirius admitted with a grin as Professor McGonagall came to stand next to him in the doorway to watch the end of the lesson.

"I'll admit, I did have some reservations myself." Minerva said softly, watching the classroom with an appraising eye. "It actually came as quite a surprise when he excelled at teaching, quite beyond my expectations really."

"The kids seem to love him," Sirius nodded in amusement, watching as two of the Hufflepuffs got up to test their shields against tickling charms cast their way by Junior. "I don't remember DADA ever being this much fun."

"He does have a way of keeping his classes engaged and full of laughter," Minerva admitted with a wry smile. "He should be winding down now ready for lunch." She said as the two laughing Hufflepuffs returned to their seats.

"Alright you lot," James grinned as he returned to the front of the class and hopped up on his desk to sit there comfortably. "You all feel better about your shield charms now?" He asked, looking around as the entire class nodded and answered at once. "Last question for today, then it's lunch time." He said with a grin, laughing at how quite a few of the class cheered at that. "Silent casting was supposed to be covered last year, at least to get you into the NEWT classes. How many of you are actually good at it?" He asked curiously. "I'm not judging here, I just want to know where you all are so I can start prepping you for point casting if you're all good with silent casting. So if you're good enough at silent casting to get away with it, put your hands up."

Looking around he wasn't really surprised to see about a third of the Ravenclaw students putting their hand up, with less, maybe around a quarter of the Hufflepuff students putting their hands up.

"Who was teaching silent casting last year?" James asked in confusion at how most of the NEWT class apparently didn't have a handle on silent casting yet. "Alright, Friday afternoon we'll brush up on silent casting, I'll try and get you lot onto point casting before Christmas if I've got the time." He said with a grin before spotting one of the Ravenclaws holding their hand up. "Yes?" He asked, nodding over towards the Ravenclaw.

"What's point casting, I've never seen that in a Defence textbook before sir?"

"The next step after silent casting," James explained with a shrug. "Everyone starts off the same, incantations and wand movements. That's your first five years." He explained, watching as the entire class was listening to him. "By fifth year, you should be ready to move on to silent casting. No incantations, just thinking the spell you want and matching it with the wand movements." He explained, watching as the class nodded to show they were following what he was saying. "So point casting is the next step, bet you can all guess what we lose this time?" He asked with a grin, looking around the class.

"Wand movements?" A few of the Ravenclaws asked at the same time.

"Exactly," James grinned over. "Takes a bit more focus than silent casting, but it can be a godsend in a duel. It's fast, decisive, and without any wand movement or incantation, your opponent has absolutely no idea what you're casting at them."

"What's after that then?" A different Ravenclaw asked this time.

"Ambitious lot aren't you?" James grinned over, looking at the books on that Ravenclaw's desk and snapping his hand up, summoning the book to his hand in a quick movement, much to the shock of the class that all gasped openly at him. "Wandless casting. Don't expect for me to cover wandless this year. Maybe next year, if there's time, but it's a hell of a lot harder than silent casting or point casting, so don't expect much of it alright?"

"Why's wandless so hard Professor?" One of the Hufflepuff's asked this time. "Don't you need to be really powerful to learn that?"

"Not at all," James shook his head. "Everyone things that because it's flashy and makes people think you're really powerful, but honestly it's no better than using a wand." He explained, getting comfortable on his desk. "The two advantages you get with wandless casting are that you can't be disarmed, well, unless you mean literally disarmed with a cutting curse to the shoulder." He explained with a grin. "And it's a great way to stay on the right side of the Statute of Secrecy."

"But don't you need to be really powerful to learn wandless casting?" A Ravenclaw asked in shock.

"Nope," James shook his head. "It's all about focus and determination, willpower if you want." He explained with a shrug. "Castelobruxo down in Brazil and Uagadou in Africa, both teach wandless magic from their first year. Wands are more of a novelty in those countries." He explained. "Binns should be teaching this stuff instead of his yearly waffle about Goblin rebellions." He muttered with a sigh, much to the class's amusement. "Wands are a European invention, they're not really linked to magic, you don't NEED your wand to perform magic. Think about apparating and animagus transformations, neither of them need your wand, and they're both really advanced pieces of magic." He explained.

"In America, the native tribes there used a staff instead of a wand, Japan uses the same, but India uses bracelets and other types of jewelry. I've heard of some places that uses rune enchanted rings instead of wands for focusing, but we just use enchanted rings for more common purposes. Every country out there has their own quirks and ways of teaching magic, wands are just what the ancient wizards designed when they started learning, so it just became a tradition." He finished with a shrug as the bell rung.

"Right, I'll be covering silent casting properly on Friday. I want to get you lot at least proficient with it before we move on to anything more advanced." He explained, standing up from his desk and raising his voice slightly to carry over the excited chattering of the class. "If you feel you're good enough with silent casting that you don't need to brush up, either bring a book to Friday's lesson and work on your own, or skip it and use the class to do homework from another class alright?" He asked, looking around the students to make sure they all heard him properly.

It didn't take long for him to receive a lot of friendly waves as the students started filing out of the classroom, leaving him to lean back on his desk and smirk in amusement as he saw Sirius and Minerva come into the classroom from their position by the doorway.

"Just so you know, I am in the process of finding a replacement for Cuthbert." Minerva explained as she eyed James curiously. "Though finding a replacement with the right qualifications is proving harder than I expected." She admitted with a small sigh.

"Probably because he's been so useless at teaching history for so long, that there's no-one in the country who has any real idea about it anymore." James explained with a shrug.

"Sadly I'm finding that is quite close to the truth," Minerva admitted with a small sigh as she came to stand in front of James' desk with Sirius. "While going through the administrative paperwork, I did find out that Albus was still claiming Cuthbert's wages, but having it paid into a vault at Gringotts belonging to an Arabella Figg?"

"Ah," James smirked, nodding to show he recognised the name. "One of Dumbledore's little spies, so he was actually paying her to spy on Harry out of Binns' wages? Sneaky old git." He explained with a dry laugh.

"I see," Minerva frowned through thin lips as she contemplated what she was being told. "I have cancelled the payments now, once I can find a replacement for Cuthbert I will figure out what to do with the remaining money."

"Buy some new brooms for the school," James said with a shrug. "Those things are ancient and probably the cause of half the accidents every year."

"That is probably true," Minerva admitted with a thoughtful nod. "I shall put some thought into it." She mused aloud. "Regardless, I would like for you to join me for a meeting shortly. Since you started all of this, I feel it would be beneficial to have your input while we continue."

"Oh?" James raised both eyebrows looking over at Minerva and wondering what she was planning now. "I was going to..." He sighed, trailing off before nodding to himself. "Sirius, fancy handling the Daily Prophet on your own?"

"Sure," Sirius shrugged, looking between James and Professor McGonagall now. "You don't want to handle it yourself?" He asked curiously.

"You have a word with them first, if you don't get anywhere, we can go back after dinner and make it clear then." James said with a firm nod. "If Skeeter gives you any hassle, let me know and I'll get down there earlier if I can."

"Sure thing," Sirius shrugged at that. Handling irritants like Skeeter and the Prophet was easy enough really. "Fancy a trip to Diagon?" He asked, looking at Nymphadora now with a questioning glance.

"Lets leave the kids to it," James smirked, getting a mock glare from Sirius as he grinned and led Minerva out of the classroom before glancing back to Nymphadora. "Lock up when you leave alright?"

"Sure thing boss," Nymphadora shot back quickly as James and Minerva headed out into the corridor where Minerva started leading him towards the main staircase.

"Alright, what's this meeting about then?" James asked curiously, idly following Minerva with his hands in his jeans pockets.

"The Weasley Twins," Minerva explained patiently.

"What have they done now?" James muttered to himself, rolling his eyes as he continued to follow Minerva up the main staircase towards the floor that led up to the Headmistresses Office.

"Surprisingly, nothing." Minerva admitted with a small smirk. "I had a rather frank talk with Aurora about their work, along with several other of their professors. They all agree that the turn around in the last week from the previous years has been nothing short of shocking."

"Not surprised there," James said with a simple shrug.

"Exactly how well do you know the twins?" Minerva asked curiously as she led the way up the corridor and into the spiral staircase leading up to her office.

"Well enough I guess, probably a bit better than most." James admitted with a small frown, trying to make things sound as vague as possible about his interactions with the twins. It wasn't like he could outright say everything he knew about the twins was from growing up with them and fighting alongside them.

"And you still believe their mother chose their OWL courses without any input from them?" Minerva asked, raising an eyebrow towards him as she led him into her office.

"What are they taking?" James asked with a curious glance around the office. A few things had changed since the last time he'd been in here with Nymphadora, but now looking around, it didn't seem like Dumbledore's office anymore, but was well on it's way to looking how he remembered Minerva's office looking in his future.

"The standard core subjects, along with Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, and Ancient Runes." Minerva explained, walking around her desk and gesturing to one of the collection of seats around the front of her desk, indicating for James to take a seat there.

"Useless, worse than useless, and... actually, I can see them doing well in Runes." James mused aloud with a nod. "Creature hour and Muggle Studies is a joke though, the two of them won't ever do anything with either of those, and Muggle Studies is so far behind the times that it should just be called Muggle History instead."

"So you've said," Minerva sighed. "I can only focus on one problem at a time, once I have worked out the problems with replacing Cuthbert, then I will take a look at the Muggle Studies course." She explained, frowning over at James. "So you believe that..." She trailed off as the office door knocked. "Enter." She called aloud, watching as James looked around curiously to see Aurora Sinestra walking in, leading the Weasley Twins into the office.

James had to smirk at the way the Weasley twins both looked a bit nervous at being called into Professor McGonagall's office like this, especially since they were now there with the headmistress, head of Gryffindor, with him there simply smirking at them.

"Messrs Weasley. Right on time." Minerva said, pointing to the seats arranged in front of her desk. "Take a seat gentlemen."

"Whatever it is, we didn't do it!"

"Honest professor!"

"We haven't had time to do anything yet this year."

"Really!" They both finished off earnestly as they sat in the offered chairs, leaving a spare chair between them and James which Aurora promptly took, making them both edge slightly away from their head of house.

"We are here to talk about your OWL subjects gentlemen." Minerva said, silencing the two with a light glare. "Not whatever else you might or might not have done this year." She explained, thinning her lips down into a line as she stared across her desk at both of them. "Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies?" She asked, raising an eyebrow over at the twins. "Are the both of you considering future careers at The Ministry?" She asked curiously.

"No!"

"Merlin no!"

"Really, a world of no Professor!" Both twins answered emphatically, shaking their heads firmly at that idea.

"I didn't believe so, I found it rather curious that you would take exactly the same OWL courses as your older brother, Percy in this case, though Charlie did quite enjoy Care of Magical Creatures I believe." Minerva explained thoughtfully. "Would Professor Potter then be right in assuming that neither of you picked these courses willingly?"

It was obvious to everyone in the room just from the twins expression what the answer was.

"Let me take a guess, Molly filled in the course choices for you, did she even ask you?" James asked, turning to the side to look past Aurora and watch the twins reactions. "Didn't think so." He smirked when the shock on the twins faces showed that he was right on the money with his guess.

"Is that indeed the case?" Minerva asked, raising an eyebrow at the twins.

"Yes Professor." The twins answered in tandem.

"And the courses you would have picked?" Minerva asked curiously. "Professor Potter?" She asked, looking at him now for his guesses.

"Arithmancy to match Ancient Runes. Spellcrafting and enchantment is what these two need to be looking into. Creatures and Muggles Studies isn't going to do anything for them other than giving them a few hours of boredom every week." James explained with a small smirk. "Divination is useless, and none of the other classes are going to be worth their time, at worst, they're just going to be a distraction." He explained with a shrug. "Arithmancy and Ancient Runes for their OWL's, then use the extra free period to catch up on everything they've missed in Potions."

"Would you agree with that?" Minerva asked, glancing to Aurora now.

"Provisionally," Aurora admitted with a small nod. "The last week or so, their work has raised far above where it used to be. Where their grades used to sit firmly around acceptable with the occasional exceeds expectations, I've noticed at least three outstandings from them each in Potions, and one each in Ancient Runes, while their Care and Muggle Studies work has shown little to no improvement at all."

"Would moving your courses from Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies to Arithmancy be amenable to the two of you?" Minerva asked, looking at the twins now to gauge their reactions.

"Is Arithmancy really useful for spellcrafting and enchanting?" One of the twins asked, looking over at James now.

"Indeed," Minerva answered instead of James, drawing everyones attention to her. "It is one of the harder classes offered, but if you are serious about learning the rather daunting task of enchanting, then it is a rather essential course."

"Take everything you're learning in charms, and start taking it apart with what you'll be learning in Arithmancy. You guys will easily figure out how to enchant shield charms into hats or gloves, self inking quills, or fireworks that fly around the sky like dragons." James explained, drawing them in with hints of their future ideas that he knew would entice them further. "Or extendable charms worked into bags? Never have to carry a big bag of books or potions supplies again, just one little bag and everything fits inside it." He explained with a smirk, thinking back to Hermione's undetectable extension bag that had saved their lives so many times.

"That's all enchanting?" Both twins asked in awe.

"Indeed," Minerva answered with a small smile at how enthralled both the twins were with what James was saying. "Enchanting is run as a two year NEWT course if there is the interest, likewise with Alchemy and Advanced Arithmancy. Perhaps by your sixth year, you would both consider it for your final years here."

"Yes Professor!" Both twins eagerly nodded at that idea.

"Very well, this change will of course be dependant on your grades gentlemen." Minerva said with a firm glance at both of the twins. "Professor Potter seems to have faith in you two and believes you can do far better than you have been. Do not let him down." She said firmly.

"We won't Professor!"

"Never Professor!"

"Never!" Both Weasley's finished simultaneously, shaking their heads eagerly with wild grins on their faces.

"Then I will make the necessary changes to your schedule and Professor Sinestra will hand you your new one in the morning." Minerva said with a nod, a small quirk on her lips as she saw how eager the twins were to actually learn new things now.

"Thank you Professor!" Both twins grinned over happily.

"You can thank Professor Potter, he was the one that mentioned the belief that your mother chose your courses without your consent." Minerva explained. "And I'm certain he will be following your grades closely as well."

"We won't let you down Professor Prongs!" Both Weasley's said with a grin and a salute over to their favourite teacher.

"You may both head down to your lunch now, I will organise a time with Professor Sinestra to acquire the necessary text books for your new courses." Minerva explained with a small smirk at the title they had apparently given James.

"Thanks Professor!"

"Really, thanks!"

Both twins were out of their seats in a shot, grinning wildly as they dashed for the door, whispering between themselves about what sort of ideas Professor Potter had put into their head for future experiments they could conduct.

"Those two could even wear out Peeves," Aurora muttered as the twins left the office, closing the door behind them with a loud bang. "How in Merlin's name did you cope with them for two years already?"

"A wee dram of scotch every night does wonders." Minerva answered with a completely straight face, causing James to snort with laughter and shake his head at the thought. "And while we're on the subject, perhaps James would care to expand on this nom de plume the twins have apparently graced him with? Professor Prongs? Really?"

James' groan was the only answer that matched the roll of his eyes before he launched into the explanation of his patronus lesson and a quickly fudged explanation of the name that wouldn't raise any more questions than had been already thought up.


	28. Chapter 28

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Thursday, 19th September**

**Potter Manor**

"Sirius?"

"Kitchen!" Sirius called back, recognising Amelia's voice instantly while he lazed back on his chair in the Potter kitchen with this morning's copy of the Daily Prophet in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other.

He'd woken up early a bit apprehensive about what he was supposed to do today. While he was all for helping Junior out with his plans for the wizarding world, he personally had absolutely no idea on what sort of things he was supposed to do once he'd taken his family's seat on the Wizengamot, and he utterly hated the idea of acting the same way as he remembered his father's pure blood friends acting and demanding everyone 'beneath them' always called them Warlock so and so, like their title automatically made them better than everyone else or something.

"Morning," He spoke up as Amelia and Julia came into the kitchen, Amelia automatically heading for the cupboard with mugs in to make herself a coffee, while Julia was staring at him appraisingly. "Well?" He asked with a small smirk, gesturing down to his robes. "Do I pass inspection?"

"Somewhat," Julia nodded back. The robes were nice enough, black acromantula silk with a textured undershirt. While it was obvious Sirius hadn't shaved in a few days now, his long shaggy hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail, and the few days worth of stubble gave him a roguish but more mature look that suited him far better than a clean shaved and well groomed look would have.

"I saw the Prophet yesterday," Amelia commented as she filled up her mug from the boiling kettle before adding a splash of cold water to the black coffee to cool it down slightly. "Did you speak to James about it?"

"Hmn," Sirius nodded, enjoying a mouthful of his own coffee. "I went down there myself to have a quiet word with them about it."

"Why do I doubt it was anything like a quiet word with you involved?" Amelia asked with a roll of her eyes as Sirius smirked up at her. "What did they say?"

"Cuffe was pretty apologetic when I confronted him," Sirius admitted with a grin. "Someone paid Skeeter to write the article, nothing really new there. The usual coming from her poison quill really."

"I'd assumed as much," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "Any ideas who?"

"Some Umbridge woman," Sirius shrugged. "I know Junior mentioned her, but I don't really know anything else about her." He explained, enjoying a mouthful of his coffee. "Guessing she's one of Voldy's boot lickers?"

"Almost certainly," Amelia sighed as she leaned up against the kitchen counter. "I don't know if she's actually a Death Eater or not, but she's certainly follows the pure blood fanaticism." She explained. "She used to work at The Ministry under Minister Fudge before we enforced the loyalty contracts."

"So she's just a pure blood bitch then," Sirius nodded, making a mental note of the name to see what he could dig up on her. "She probably targeted Junior to try and get people to turn on him."

"More than likely," Amelia nodded in agreement. "After working under Minister Fudge, she'll know how to work public opinion more than anything, this sort of stunt is right up her alley." She mused aloud. "What else did The Prophet say?"

"Cuffe agreed to suspend Skeeter for now, and write a retraction." Sirius explained, tapping the paper. "Nothing in this morning's issue, but if it's not there tomorrow, I'll pay him another visit."

"He suspended Skeeter?" Julia asked in surprise. "I didn't think he'd go that far. Rita Skeeter's been his favourite gossip columnist for years now. She might write whatever people pay her to, but she's sensational enough that people will buy whatever's got her name on it."

"I might have told Cuffe if he didn't suspend her, both me and Junior would be calling her and him out for an honour duel." Sirius smirked over. "I swear that he actually pissed himself when he realised he was close to facing Junior in a duel."

"I don't blame him," Amelia muttered, shaking her head in amusement. "I didn't actually realise just how powerful he was, but looking at everything he's done, it's pretty ridiculous."

"You're telling me," Sirius nodded in agreement. "He's even got Nicolas Flamel visiting him to chat about things." He explained with an exasperated frown. "Some of the stuff they talked about... ugh, I never wanted to know that." He explained with an exaggerated shudder.

"Nicolas Flamel? Really?" Julia asked, her eyes wide at this piece of information. "He's really that powerful?" She asked, looking to Amelia now.

"Powerful enough to blow the head off a werewolf with one curse," Amelia nodded. "To apparate out from Hogwarts, through the wards as well, dragging me along with him." She explained over Sirius' whistle of appreciation. "He does that sort of thing like it's nothing really big for him."

"Considering how he dealt with Dumbledore and Voldemort, it probably isn't." Julia muttered, trying to wrap her head around just how powerful James must really be. "How powerful is he? Really?"

"Beyond Dumbledore easily," Sirius said with a firm nod.

"Definitely, I'd say more powerful than Voldemort as well." Amelia said in agreement with Sirius.

"Yeah, he already kicked Voldy's arse when he was seventeen, that was before he trained up with the aurors and threw himself into learning all that battle magic." Sirius explained. "If ol' snakeface couldn't take him when he was seventeen, do you really think he has a chance in hell now?" He asked, grinning as Amelia snorted and shook her head. "I mean think about it, he was Voldy's equal when he was seventeen, and then he's had another, what, twenty years of Auror training and learning ontop of that?" He explained with a whistle.

"I hadn't thought of it like that," Julia admitted with a small smile. "He's really going to win this isn't he?"

"It's pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point, remember, for him, he's already done this and defeated Voldemort once. This time around he's prepared and being proactive about it." Amelia chuckled back. "His only focus is making sure the wizarding world actually changes this time, instead of sliding back into corruption and pure blood bigotry again."

"You really think that would happen?" Julia asked.

"It's already happened, well, twice really." Sirius shrugged. "Junior lived through it all, and it happened when snakeface got blown up at James' place when he attacked him and Lily." He explained with a frown. "Think it was just random corruption that let all the Death Eaters off with the 'but I was under the imperius' excuse while I ended up tossed in Azkaban without a trial?" He asked with a disgusted sneer.

"We're cleaning up The Ministry as much as we can," Amelia explained with a sigh. "Stamping out that much corruption is hard enough, and that's not even taking into account all the laws that are biased in favour of pure blood families."

"Which is what we need to push through the Wizengamot," Julia nodded, following their plan closely enough. "Speaking of which..." She trailed off, turning back to Sirius. "The chambers will open at ten, it's tradition to announce new seats being taken at the start of every meeting before everyone is seated."

"Right, so do the announcement stuff first right?" Sirius double checked.

"Claim your seat, make the oath, then the Chief Warlock will ask which party you are joining." Julia explained. "That's when you need to say you're joining the neutrals and move your seat in with us." She said with a smirk, thinking about how much political power the neutral faction already had. "The light faction was under Dumbledore's control for years. Now that he's been disgraced, they're splintering apart and arguing with themselves more than anything else and trying to set Amos up to be their leader."

"Wouldn't want anything to do with anything that was led by Dumbledore anyway." Sirius groused as he finished off his coffee.

"Exactly," Amelia nodded in agreement. "Amos Diggory took over from Albus, though we're watching him pretty carefully at the moment."

"Why?" Sirius asked, cocking his head to the side as he looked at Amelia. Politics and favours had never been his strong suit, Regulus had always had a head for it, which was probably why his father had always chosen Regulus to take over with stuff like this. Regulus had had all the training for it and learnt everything he needed, while he'd never bothered with it at all, preferring to spend his childhood actually wanting to be a child, not being groomed for an marriage to one of his cousins or taking over the family politics.

"Amos lives close enough to the Weasley's and was friendly enough with Dumbledore before." Amelia explained. "We don't know if Amos is sitting as Chief Warlock on his own merits, or if the votes came from Dumbledore's favour and he's pulling the strings behind the scenes again."

"Ah," Sirius grunted. "Never heard of the Diggory's before, so I've got no ideas there."

"Hufflepuffs for quite a few generations," Amelia smiled over with a proud thought of her old house. "Hard working and loyal, unfortunately for us, Amos' loyalty might be to Dumbledore rather than his position." She explained.

"What about those contract thingies? I thought they were supposed to take care of all that stuff?" Sirius asked, trying to get everything clear in his head.

"Only in The Ministry," Amelia shook her head. "I'd never get the votes needed to enforce loyalty contracts in the Wizengamot, too many of the dark families would revolt on principal, they'd have too much to lose."

"Right," Sirius groaned, slumping down in his chair. "Do you really want me for this stuff? I mean... I'm no politician, I don't understand any of this crap." He groused aloud. "I'm not going to be any good with any of this."

"You'll do fine," Amelia said softly, giving Sirius a reassuring smile. "Once we've got your seat recognised, we'll have the votes to get the Potter's a seat as well. There's no way that won't pass, and with the extra votes, we'll finally be able to get all those pure blood laws repealed."

"That'd be something," Sirius snorted but nodded in agreement, focusing on pulling the prank over Junior and forcing him to play with politics as well. "Alright, what about the robes?" He asked, indicating to Julia and Amelia's purple coloured robes with the Wizengamot symbol emblazoned on the chest.

"They'll be handed out to you once you're recognised as the Warlock of your seat." Amelia explained, finishing off her coffee with a quick mouthful. "We should head over to The Ministry now, it's always a nightmare getting down to the chambers."

"Right," Sirius nodded, steeling himself as he finished off his own coffee and left the mug untidily on top of the copy of the Daily Prophet, ignoring the way the coffee drips on the mug started staining the newspaper.

Without saying anything else he followed Amelia and Julia through to the living room and the fireplace, before the three of them took their turns in floo'ing through to The Atrium where politics, backstabbing, bribery and corruption awaited them.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

As breakfast in the Great Hall finished, James happily took his time in watching the students gather their things ready for their morning lessons. Thursdays were always a fun one for him, he had the Gryffindor and Slytherin first year students for first period, which always brought back a mixture of happy and torn memories as he looked through at all the familiar faces in the classroom.

It was somewhat surreal teaching people who used to be his old friends, how they would look at him as a stranger with only respect for him as a teacher, when he knew practically everything about them and what sort of people they would grow into.

Off to the corner of the Great Hall he spotted Harry and Susan chatting with Daphne, Hermione, Neville and another brunette Slytherin that he couldn't remember the name of. It was somewhat amusing seeing the six of them grouped up like that, two Gryffindors, two Hufflepuffs, and two Slytherins, all chatting and being friendly with each other without a hex or curse in sight.

It was nice to see his younger self actually chatting, laughing and being friendly with more people this time around. He remembered what his first few weeks at Hogwarts had been like when he'd been that age, and with only Ron as his friend, he'd been extremely sheltered and cut off from making any other friends like he should have.

Looking back, he wouldn't have been surprised if it was Ron's belligerent attitude and foul manners that actually stopped other kids from coming to talk to them and make friends. After all, it was only after the troll incident that he'd really made friends with Hermione, but nobody else ever really came to talk to him or tried to make friends with him.

That should have been a red light warning straight away. He was supposedly famous, joining the magical world and meeting people for the first time ever, but nobody tried to talk to him or get to know him? At the time he'd just been thankful of some piece and quiet, and been treated like a normal kid by everyone, but looking back on it now, it was obvious that something just wasn't right.

The changes in Hermione were more subtle than in his younger self. Where his younger self was now far more outspoken and friendly than he'd ever been at that age, Hermione seemed to be the opposite. She hadn't withdrawn into herself or anything like that, but she seemed to be second guessing everything she thought she knew instead of just labouring under the 'I'm always right' attitude that she'd had in their first year originally.

It was a somewhat bemusing change, and the only thing he could think of that would have caused it was his confrontation with Dumbledore. He remembered well how Hermione had practically idolised the old man in their Hogwarts years and worshipped authority, so being shown how badly Dumbledore had been abusing his authority must have really shaken Hermione's foundations.

It was something he'd have to keep an eye on to see where she went from here. From her classwork it was obvious that she was the same knowledge obsessed bookworm that he'd grown to know and love, but she was just tempered somewhat, something that hadn't happened to 'his' Hermione until the corruption at The Ministry had been shoved in their faces.

It seemed Hermione didn't have a middle ground with anything, it was either one extreme or the other and she apparently threw everything she had into either belief. The old black and white, light vs dark mentality that he'd grown out of long ago now.

Shrugging that thought off for now he watched until Hermione, Neville, Daphne and the other Slytherin went off in one direction towards the third floor stairway, while Harry and Susan headed off in another. He couldn't remember exactly what his younger self had this morning for lessons, but judging from the way they were walking towards the back of the hall it was either herbology outside, or they were heading to the dungeons for potions.

Deciding to head off himself he casually ambled off the professor's platform, hopping down onto the main stone floor of the Great Hall before he started walking out to head towards the main stairway that led up to the third floor.

The changes in Hermione weren't something he'd been expecting, but now he was thinking about it, it was clear that they were just another ripple change that he hadn't been able to anticipate. Just like with his younger self being sorted into Hufflepuff. He'd made big changes, and lots of little changes were rippling out from there and affecting other things.

He tried to think about how many big changes he'd actually made already. Dumbledore being kicked out of the school, Voldemort being brought out into the open five years early. Snape resigning, Sirius being free. Death Eaters fleeing the country, and a competent Ministry dealing with the corruption that infested it.

There were too many changes to count, and those were only the ones he was personally involved in and planned. Harry being in Hufflepuff, Hermione's changes, Harry and Neville being friends with Slytherins, whatever was going on with the Malfoys, and then there was Nicolas Flamel and his knowledge to consider.

Everything was changing so fast that it was almost spiralling out of control. As it was he had a semi good idea of how the future was playing out, but with all the changes rippling out from what he'd done so far, he had no idea exactly how long that future knowledge would still be useful.

"You can't talk to me like that! When my father hears about this..." The voice trailed off with an ommph sound and a more feminine shriek, dragging James out of his musing as he darted to the side of the corridor on instinct and span around to where he heard the voices coming from.

His wand was out automatically as he came to face the two students, and two charms left his wand before the students even knew he was there, separating them and sticking the larger male student to the wall where he struggled against the spell.

"What is going on here?" He demanded, glaring across at the male student who had gone pale now that he recognised who had interrupted them.

It wasn't hard to see that it had actually been a physical confrontation instead of a magical one, and now that he was closer it was easy enough to recognise the two students. Katie Bell was practically sagging with relief with her book bag on the floor, her books and parchments strewn to the side of the corridor, while Cormac McLaggen was looking terrified from his position stuck to the wall, a handful of Katie's brown hair still gripped in his hand from where it had been torn out when he'd been ripped away from her.

"I'm looking for an explanation, now." James bit out, flicking his wand towards Katie's bag and gathering everything up into it with a simple spell.

"McLaggen grabbed me because he didn't make the Quidditch team this year and I did." Katie explained, talking over Cormac's denials. "He threatened to tell Oliver I'd taken potions to get my place if I didn't tell Oliver to give him the place instead of Angelina."

"She's lying!" Cormac spat out angrily, still struggling against the spell that was holding him against the wall. "She attacked me! I was... I was just going to class and she pulled me away." He blustered.

"Really?" James drawled out, raising an eyebrow towards Cormac. "I've got a pensieve upstairs, shall we go up there and watch both your memories to see which one of you is telling the truth?" He asked, causing Cormac to shut up instantly and pale at the idea. "That's what I thought." He said, fixing Cormac with a glare. "I'll be having words with Oliver about this, and Professor Sinestra, but for now, consider all your flying privileges revoked for the rest of the term. I'd consider your Quidditch career over as well Mr McLaggen."

"You... you can't do that!" Cormac demanded.

"Can, will, have done." James said firmly. "I don't like bullies, and I hate liars. You're both." He said, flicking his wand towards Cormac and releasing him from the wall. "If I hear one more thing about you attacking anyone, magically or physically, a suspension will be the least of your problems." He bit out, making sure Cormac got the message.

"Yes Professor." Cormac seethed, glaring up at James before sneering across to Katie.

"A week's detention and twenty points from Gryffindor. Get to class," James bit out, watching as Cormac slunk away from the confrontation, sending Katie a hate filled glare as he barged passed. "Idiot." He muttered under his breath as Cormac headed out into the main corridor. "You alright?" He asked, turning to Katie to check on her properly now.

"I'm... I'm fine Professor, he just took me by surprise, that's all." Katie admitted with a small blush.

"Chaser right?" James grinned at her. "Don't let idiots like McLaggen get you down. You're going to have a great year." He said with a grin.

"How... how'd you know that?" Katie asked, looking at him with a surprised expression on her face. "Oliver only announced the results of the tryouts this morning."

"I've got my sources," James smirked at her. "If he gives you any more trouble, come and find me, or grab the Weasley twins and tell them what's going on."

"The twins? The beaters?" Katie asked in surprise. "Aren't they just jokers?"

"That too, but they'll take care of you if you need it. The quidditch team is like a family to them, so if you ever need any help, they'll be the ones to go to." James explained, remembering back to fond memories of his first year playing quidditch for the Gryffindor team. "Angelia and Alica are the chasers too right?" He asked.

"Alicia's in the same year as the Weasleys, I haven't really spoken to her before." Katie explained with a nod. "Angelina's my friend though, she's the only other girl in my year that loves quidditch as much as I do."

"Take some time out on the pitch to get to know them," James chuckled, lifting up Katie's bag from the floor and offering it to her. "You three will make great chasers." He said with a small grin. "Go on, head off to class, and if McLaggen says anything else or tries to get you in trouble with Oliver, come and find me alright?"

"Thanks Professor!" Katie grinned at him, flushing again with a blush before she headed off down the corridor.

"Anytime," James chuckled to himself, lost in the happy memories he had of playing quidditch alongside Katie and the others.

As he headed into the corridor himself to head up to the defence classroom, he couldn't help but think about what his younger self was going to be doing since he wasn't playing quidditch. Would he try out for the Hufflepuff team in a few years time maybe? Or would he focus on something else instead of quidditch? How was the Gryffindor team going to do now without his younger self as a seeker, who was going to be their seeker for that matter?

With his thoughts on flying and quidditch, he happily headed up the main staircase towards the third floor, making a mental note to bring his broom to Hogwarts at some point so he could go out flying again. It would be amazing to go flying around Hogwarts again, even if it was just flying and not playing quidditch anymore.

* * *

**Wizengamot Chambers**

**Ministry of Magic**

**London**

"All stand for the Chief Warlock!"

Amelia and Julia stood up automatically along with Augusta Longbottom who was sitting proud in her seat next to Amelia and staring out across the chambers. It only took a minute for Amos Diggory to walk through the chamber doors, his chest puffed out proudly as he headed to the Chief Warlock's podium for his first official meeting as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

"Be seated." The aid called out from his seat next to the Chief Warlock's post.

"Good morning all. I'm proud to announce this meeting of The Wizengamot on the nineteenth of September, open." Amos announced proudly before taking his seat at the podium. "First order of business, do we have any new seats to be recognised?" He asked with a wry smile. It was something that was traditionally asked at the beginning of every sitting, but aside from the occasional death, it had been a long time since any new seats were recognised, so it had just become a running joke that it would be asked and ignored every time.

"I claim my family's seat and the votes accorded to my line."

Amos was struck dumb as he looked around to the main entrance of the chambers where the aurors were stood, pretty much everyone else in the Wizengamot chambers turned at the same time, their attention all focused on the person that had spoken up.

"Come forward with your claim." Amos managed to stammer out, not having expected any interruptions like this at all.

He was watching with interest as the claimant stepped forwards into the better lit areas of the chamber, that interest faded to shock when he recognised Sirius Black standing there, causing him to blanch as he ran down everything he knew about the Black family in his head.

"I claim Warlock of the Black Family seat, the votes, debts, and traditions, as sworn by my ancestor." Sirius announced proudly, just as Amelia and Julia had coached him to.

"I... I see." Amos stammered, staring across at Sirius. "Your oath to uphold the laws of this land?"

Sirius rolled his eyes as he spoke the recognised Wizengamot oath, it wasn't a magically binding oath or anything like that, it was just tradition and bluster, just like everything in The Wizengamot really.

"You may take your seat Warlock Black." Amos said quickly, looking around the chambers to see everyone seemed to be just as shocked as he was by this turn of events. "Which faction does your seat support?" He asked automatically, getting ready for another seat to bolster the dark families of the Wizengamot.

"The Neutrals." Sirius said proudly, smirking when he saw the shock register on the Chief Warlock's face, and ripple out from there to everyone else in the chambers causing hushed whispers and fidgeting to come from the seated Warlocks, with only Amelia, Julia and Augusta sharing his smile at what was going on.

"The... the neutrals?" Amos parroted back in shock. "Then... then you can take your seat Warlock Black." He announced, trying his best not to stammer as he gestured towards the neutral faction of the Wizengamot, where he noticed Amelia Bones and Julia Greengrass smiling and a seat already waiting for Sirius Black next to them.

Everyone watched in silence as Sirius strode through the chambers and took his seat between Amelia Bones and Julia Greengrass, with Augusta Longbottom sat on the other side of Amelia.

It was a shocking and completely unexpected move. To see the Black seat in the Neutral Faction was unprecedented on it's own, the Black's had always been a member of the Dark Faction, right back to the founding of The Wizengamot. Shifting that allegiance shifted voting blocs around entirely and the whole power of The Wizengamot with it.

Seeing Sirius Black sat that close to Augusta Longbottom was almost as big of a shock as well. Everyone knew the story of the Longbottom's and how they'd been tortured practically to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange. Just like everyone knew Bellatrix Lestrange used to be a Black, just like Narcissa who had married into the Malfoy family.

"Is... is there any more business before we open this sitting?" Amos stammered out, taking careful note of the reporters up on the visitors gallery who were all scribbling notes furiously in their seats. "Then as Chief Warlock, I call this session of The Wizengamot to order." He announced firmly, trying to focus everyone's attention back on him and away from Sirius Black. "First on the docket, a motion to regulate cauldron thickness and sales of unsuitable cauldrons." He announced, gesturing to the Ministry worker who was sat near by to stand and begin her presentation.

As The Ministry worker started waffling on about various cauldron thicknesses and how substandard materials in inferior cauldrons were tainting potions, Amos' mind was very clearly on something else as he carefully watched how Sirius Black interacted with the people he was sat with.

Both Amelia Bones and Julia Greengrass seemed to be open and friendly with him, whispering between themselves and discussing things he couldn't overhear from his position on the main floor. It was when he saw Sirius laugh at something Amelia had said that he started slotting things into place.

Sirius was best friends with James Potter, that much had come out in his trial a few months ago. Which raised the question why he hadn't moved his seat to the light faction where it was obvious James Potter would have been if he'd had a seat here.

The other niggling fact was the rumours of a relationship between Amelia Bones and James Potter. Nobody had been able to confirm anything yet, but there were enough rumours going around that it was treated as pretty much fact already. That would easily explain the friendship between the Bones and Black family, with James Potter as the link between the two.

Putting that thought aside for now, he tried to remember how many votes the Black family had to their seat. As far as he could remember, the Black seat had been empty and without a claim since Orion Black had died four or five years ago, and since they were in the dark faction, he'd never really tried to tally up how many votes the family actually had.

He knew the Black's were an ancient family, far older than his own or even the Bones family. Probably even older than the Greengrass or Longbottoms. In a single move Sirius Black had altered the entire political landscape, taking the precious votes that had been laying dormant in the dark faction and giving them to the neutral faction.

He'd have to wait and see how this actually affected things in the long run, but even if it was only a couple of votes that had swung from one end to the other, it would be enough to change things quite drastically, and that wasn't to mention that he was certain the Black family had more than a couple of votes to their name.

Suddenly now it looked like the neutral faction were the ones who were going to be opposing the Dark Faction, rather than being the balance between the light and dark as they'd always been in the past.

For Amos, this was certainly welcome news, as even he could admit that the light faction had splintered after the revelations surrounding Albus Dumbledore, but now he had to wonder what sort of power the neutral faction would bring to their votes, and what their agenda would be. With power houses like Augusta Longbottom and Amelia Bones sat front and centre, and the seats brought to their table by Sirius Black, they were now a serious force to be reckoned with and could change the outcome of any vote.

He certainly had a lot to think on, and a lot of research to do before he could even think about how this would change things from today going forwards.

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

**Wiltshire**

Lucius Malfoy frowned to himself as he stood on the balcony of his home office, staring out at the woodlands that surrounded the ancient Malfoy Manor as the sun fell below the horizon and cast a warm golden glow over the manor. The rustled rattling warbles from the albino peacocks on the grounds below were a mild distraction that was actually welcome today as he pondered where things should go from here.

He'd received three letters today, all three of which required thought and immediate attention.

The first, a reply from Sirius Black, had been directly addressed to him, rather than Narcissa who had always sent his letters to the Black and Potter pairing in his stead. It was obvious that that little subterfuge was at it's end, though if he was honest with himself than it was clear that both Black and Potter would have seen through it almost immediately. Well, Potter would have at least, after a decade in Azkaban, he was still dubious about Black's mental state, which in his eye couldn't really have sunk any lower than before he'd been thrown into that hellhole.

It was a simple and blunt letter, a far cry from Narcissa's formal and flowery prose that filled up any letter she wrote, regardless of the recipient. The letter from Black simply contained three lines, asking what he wanted, what he wanted to tell them, and what he was planning.

Blunt, annoyingly to the point, and so very Gryffindor.

The information he had about the attack on Godric's Hollow wasn't particularly time sensitive really, he knew already that most of those behind the attack had already fled the country in fear of Potter's wrath following them. It was just as likely that Potter had put two and two together and realised with the sudden withdrawals from Hogwarts, which families had left the country, and linked the two from there.

While it wasn't certain that Potter had put everything together yet, it was entirely likely in his opinion. After all, even a Gryffindor could use their brains at least once or twice in their lives.

Which meant that the list of names he had would simply be confirmation for Potter, hardly something that would be worth interrupting his work at the school for, and certainly not something worth enough to bargain with.

The questions of what he wanted in return, and what his plan was. Those rankled him. They were annoyingly Gryffindorish questions, far too blunt to have any Slytherin cunning in them, a simple demand for information without any of the usual formal approaches, pleasantries or discussions.

However blunt the questions were, they had been bugging him the entire afternoon. What did he want. First and foremost, he wanted his family to survive, to come out of this in a position of power, like Malfoy's always did. Was he certain enough that putting his entire family's future at risk on the gamble of Potter defeating Riddle? That was the all important question.

That question had been shuffled to the side when he'd received the letter from Marcus Parkinson, informing him that Sirius Black had taken control of his family seat in the Wizengamot, and ludicrously transferred his seat to the neutral bloc of the Wizengamot.

Black claiming his seat was completely unexpected. He hadn't believed the brash Gryffindor had a single political bone in his body, and transferring his votes through to the neutral bloc was a very unwelcome surprise.

That little puzzle had had him distracted for the last few hours. What was Potter planning? Neither Potter or Black were neutral, they were both light wizards to their core, practically as bad as Dumbledore but both were ridiculously more effective than that aged muggle lover. It was painfully obvious that claiming Black's seat wasn't Black's idea, so it was likely Potter's idea for him to claim it and move the votes over, but to what end?

Shifting the Black votes to the neutral bloc was a stroke he hadn't seen coming. The fifteen votes accorded to the Black Seat would drastically shift the status of power in the Wizengamot, making the neutral block the largest bloc of votes in the chamber. Those votes hadn't been active in over five years now, which had neutered quite a few of the laws he'd hoped to get passed in the chambers, but hadn't been able to once Orion Black had died without a successor.

Was it just a shift away from where Dumbledore had led the light bloc for so long? An effort to distance themselves from the old man and separate themselves from his old ridiculous policies of forgiveness and easy penance? It didn't seem likely, with Dumbledore out of the picture, Black and Potter could have waltzed into the light bloc and taken it over without even a word of dissent being raised against them. So why move to the neutral bloc instead when they could have held power over the light families?

With the light families fighting amongst themselves and squabbling over votes and power, this little opening gambit by Potter and Black had rearranged things entirely, and it had been played without anyone realising what was going on.

This meant that it was entirely likely that the relationship between Potter and Bones was a fact, he'd heard the rumour enough times now to believe it, and hearing that Black had joined the neutral block led by Bones, was almost enough of a confirmation in his eyes anyway.

With the neutral bloc now in power, and both the dark and light bloc's arguing amongst themselves, it was painfully obvious that their next move would be to start repealing and adjusting all of the laws he'd spent the last few years bribing, blackmailing, and threating through. With Bones leading the way, she'd know exactly which laws to target, and with Black's votes, they would be dismissed in no time at all.

This action, along with The Ministry's new loyalty contracts, and a disgustingly honourable and efficient Auror force, meant that the dark families time of rule was coming to a very abrupt end as far as he could see.

Marcus would have figured that much out for himself. Whether he turned tail and ran like some of the other families that had followed Riddle had done already, would be anyone's guess though. The Parkinson family were old and proud pure-bloods, but with this dramatic shift occurring so suddenly, it was any-body's guess as to what anyone would do.

His last letter was from Draco, keeping him informed what was going on in the school and confirming that he was keeping his head down and out of trouble. His letter had a few minor pieces of information in it, nothing earth shattering or anything that would change his plans.

Potter was apparently an 'adequate' defence professor. He'd snorted at that description and made a mental note to mention to Draco that learning from someone like Potter should be treated as an opportunity, not an annoyance. Draco was in an unusually strategic place, where he could judge and appraise Potter's strengths, weaknesses and casting style, information that might actually come in useful later on.

He went on to mention that Potter now had an apprentice. His wife's sister's daughter apparently. The metamorph who persisted in changing her hair and face to those ridiculous styles and colours.

This of course hadn't gone down well with Draco, but it was interesting information nonetheless. Potter taking on an apprentice was interesting in itself, maybe it would be worth while for Narcissa to re-cultivate her relationship with Andromeda, if only to secure a fresh source of information from within the school, and perhaps learn more about what Potter was actually teaching her niece.

The news about Potter's apprentice was the highlight of the letter in Lucius eyes. The fact Potter now had a metamorph that was bound to him was worrying, and the implications were frankly disturbing. He didn't personally believe Potter would use her for infiltration and to spy on the darker families, but the notion was there, and it was a worrying one.

If Potter trained her well, which he likely would, then he would have a frankly unmatched assassin in his hands. Someone with Potter's skill, that could change into any one of the dark families without being detected, and slip into their midst? That was a worrying and deeply disturbing thought. It would certainly be news that he would be passing on to Marcus to keep his guard up.

Things were definitely changing, in The Ministry, The Wizengamot, at Hogwarts, and in the division between the light and dark families.

The only real source of comfort Lucius had currently was the fact that Albus Dumbledore was still on the outs from society and being forced into obscurity. That alone was worth a lot of things, but in the grand scheme of things, it was just barely enough to bring a small smile to his lips as he thought about it.

For now though, he had to plan what to write back to each of the three letters. A simple letter to Draco reaffirming his orders and congratulating him for the information was easy enough, pointing out that he should be watching Potter carefully and taking notes of his casting style and any weaknesses went without saying.

The letter back to Marcus would be equally as easy to write. Confirming a few thoughts about how the Wizengamot was going to change with the Black seat in power again, and adding his own thoughts about what Potter and Black could be planning next, along with a warning about Potter's new metamorph and the worrying implications that brought with it.

The letter to Black however had him stumped. What did he want? What were his plans? Surviving the war and coming out in a position of power was the obvious answer, even to a Gryffindor. So what did Black actually want him to say?

He just knew that that question would be bugging him for the rest of the day.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

James happily waited in the defence classroom as the last of his seventh year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students filed out of the doors and into the corridor, likely to dash off down to their evening meal and spend the evening chatting with their friends.

"You need anything else boss?" Nymphadora asked with a grin from where she'd been helping some of the Hufflepuffs with their NEWT work today.

"I'm good," James chuckled as he leaned back on his desk. "You got something in mind for tonight?"

"Dinner with mum and dad," Nymphadora explained with a smile. "Dad's apparating to Hogsmeade, then mum's going to drag him around the castle to see everything before we get together."

"Ah," James nodded with a small smile.

"You?" Nymphadora asked curiously as she headed over to collect her coat from the rack at the end of the classroom by the chalkboards. Her black linen coat looked laughably light and feeble hanging there next to James' thick and hard wearing dragon-skin trench-coat, but it was comfortable and warm, and one of the few coats she'd found that was comfortable enough to wear while morphing her body around.

"Just some stuff with Harry and his friends. I'll be in my office if you need me for anything." James explained with a shrug as Nymphadora tossed him his coat as well. "Go on, I'll see you tomorrow." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand towards the classroom door.

"Alright, catch you later boss." Nymphadora gave him a last cheeky wave before she headed out the door, leaving him alone in the classroom to relax for a bit.

Throwing his coat over his shoulder for the moment he flicked a few tidying charms around the classroom, setting the chairs and desks back to their proper positions and returning a few text books from his desk back to their shelves on the wall.

Magic thankfully made tidying up so much easier, and it was barely a few moments before he was ready to leave, locking the door behind him before he set off walking down towards the office slash living area that Minerva had set aside for him.

It had been quite a good day over all, a surprisingly easy one. The Gryffindor and Slytherin group this morning had been pretty much as expected, the sneers from Malfoy and Parkinson at the back of the class were just as expected, and just as predictable as Ron Weasley sat at the back on the Gryffindor side with Dean and Seamus, joking and laughing through the lesson without paying any attention at all.

Hermione, Neville, Daphne and Tracey, now that he'd learnt the name of that elusive second Slytherin in the group, had all sat at the front of the class like they had the last few times. All four of them paying attention and discussing things amongst themselves.

It was easy to see that their little group wasn't welcomed by either side of the classroom, both Slytherins and Gryffindors were glaring at them at various points in the lesson but thankfully both Neville and Hermione seemed to be happily ignoring it for now, though he had no idea how Daphne and Tracey were dealing with things from the Slytherin side.

Thinking about that he made a mental note to talk to Septima when he got a chance to figure out exactly what was going on in the Slytherin house and tell her he'd be keeping watch over Daphne personally. He didn't really like bringing his personal life into the open like that, but if things went ahead as Amelia and Julia planned, then Julia, and therefore Daphne's, link to him would be out in the open for everyone to hear about, and it just made good sense to make sure that Daphne was protected before all of the fallout from that hit.

The question about Daphne, and more Julia, was humming through his head as he made his way into the office, leaving the door to the corridor open for now as he tossed his coat onto the rack and got comfortable in the office area. He knew Amelia and Julia were close, he'd seen it in the way they'd touched each other and the glances they sent each other's way during their introduction chat at the manor, but he hadn't really spoken to Julia since, not counting when she'd come to Hogwarts with Amelia after the whole Greyback incident anyway.

Should he write to her? Floo call her? Given that he'd already given out the rest of the communication mirrors, with Hermione's being the last to give her tonight for her birthday present, he could always use those, but that left him with the uncertain feeling of not knowing what to say or do.

Julia was frankly an unknown, she was beautiful, he'd have to admit that, but in a very different way to how Amelia was.

Shaking his head to clear the x-rated images that cropped up whenever he thought about Amelia and Julia together, he gathered himself just in time to hear laughter and recognisable voices coming from outside in the hallway.

He knew his younger self's voice off by heart now, and could easily pick up Hermione, Neville, and Susan's voices.

"Dipsy," He called aloud, waiting a beat for the school elf he'd spoken to earlier to appear in the classroom.

"Yes Professor Potter?" Dipsy asked as soon as she appeared, eager and willing to perform all the duties a good and loyal house elf should take on.

"In ten minutes, can you bring up the birthday food I asked you for earlier?" James asked with a grin. "The big table in the sitting area will be fine. Along with a few plates and cutlery, six or seven of us, and some drinks please."

"Yes Professor Potter." Dipsy nodded eagerly before vanishing silently with a small flash mere moment's before Harry knocked on the door of the office before traipsing in with the rest of his friends following on.

"Hey you lot," James grinned over. "Head on through and grab a seat, I was just finishing up in here."

"OK," Harry smiled up to his older self as the rest of them said polite hellos as they traipsed through to the living room area and out of the office.

Once all the kids were out of sight, he flicked his wand over to close the door behind them, before collecting the shrunken down bag of presents Hermione's parents had given her, along with adding the small communicating mirror he'd wrapped up himself for her.

By the time he'd grabbed everything, he could already hear more laughter coming from inside the living room area, and heading through he could see Susan and Harry telling the group a story about how a bouncing bulb had got away from Hannah during herbology and had spent half the lesson jumping around the greenhouses until Professor Sprout had managed to corral the annoying thing back into it's pot.

"Just for the record, a knockback jinx will flatten a bouncing bulb if it's not too big. I know you lot have that one down already, just something to remember for next time." James explained with a small laugh as he walked through into the living area. "Everyone had a good day then?" He asked curiously, making a mental note to look up at the time to check when it would be time for Hermione to unwrap the mirror and call her parents.

"It was great," Harry grinned over. "Professor Tonks had us all working on the forgetfulness potion last thing. Me and Susan made a perfect batch!" He explained with an excited little bounce.

"Ah, I can never remember the ingredients to that one," James joked with a small smirk on his face as he handed the bag over to Hermione, drawing a questioning frown from her. "Happy birthday, most of them are from your parents." He explained.

The look of surprise and nearly teary faced awe looking up at him wasn't something he'd expected at all, so he just took a step back for a moment and let her have some space to get herself back under control.

"We already gave her our presents earlier," Susan grinned over, trying to take some of the spotlight away from Hermione's embarrassment. "Aunt Amelia helped me get her a charmed journal with a proper lock on it. Nobody can get into them, she's even tried mine a few times and couldn't get it to unlock."

"Useful," James nodded in approval. "Especially in Gryffindor, I remember how nosey they all were." He explained with a laugh, drawing a knowing nod from Neville in response.

"I just got her some quills, normal and sugar." Neville explained with a small smile.

"I... I didn't expect anyone to get me anything!" Hermione interrupted before Daphne could continue on with the theme of explaining their gifts. "I really didn't expect anything from mum and dad. They said they'd be keeping my presents at home until I got back there for Christmas." She explained, wiping away a few tears from her eyes.

"I was there, it seemed like a good idea." James smirked over, flicking his eyes up to the clock on the wall and spotting the time. "You see that small one on top? Silver and gold wrapping? That's from Harry and me, you'll want to open that now." He explained with a small grin.

"Now?" Hermione asked, looking over and hoping for an explanation.

"Trust me," James said, sitting down on one of the spaces on the couches around the room as he watched Hermione fish into the plastic bag for the silver and gold present.

He could see she was intrigued by it, it was very clearly not a book or anything shaped like anything she'd expect, and the puzzle was showing on her face as she slowly unwrapped it and neatly put the discarded wrapping paper back into the plastic bag before examining the folded leather present and opening the flap up.

"A mirror?" Hermione asked, the confusion visible on her face as she looked down at the small pocket mirror with a frown. "My hair isn't that bad that I need a mirror all the time is it?" She asked, looking around her small group of friends who were all grinning at her.

"It's not for that," James chuckled. "Make sure your hand is touching the glass side of the mirror, and say Grangers." He explained as he sat back to watch in amusement.

"Grangers." Hermione said aloud, holding the mirror in one hand while examining it and trying to figure out what was going on here.

She nearly dropped the mirror as the reflection of her face fogged over for a second, before it was replaced with a picture of her parents staring back at her through the mirror. "What... how... is this..." She stammered out in shock.

"Happy birthday darling!" Both the Granger's voices came down the mirror, surprising Hermione again and causing her to drop the mirror into her lap before she eagerly grabbed it again and stared into the image in confusion.

"What... is this a recording? Like a picture or painting?" Hermione asked, staring at Professor Potter now in hopes of an explanation.

"Why don't you ask them?" James laughed, making Susan, Daphne and Neville laugh along with Harry joining in a few seconds later.

"Mum? Dad?" Hermione whispered, looking back down to the mirror.

"Finally, I thought you'd be used to all this magic by now, and a little magic mirror throws you off completely." Celeste Granger laughed through the mirror.

"But... how?" Hermione demanded, flicking her attention between the mirror and Professor Potter. "It's really them? Like a phone?"

"Exactly!" Mark Granger replied from the mirror. "Something like a view screen from Star Trek actually, our mirror is on the wall in my office." He explained. "It's actually rather surreal talking to you like this." He explained with a small laugh.

"I actually feel like the Evil Queen from Snow White talking to a mirror like this," Celeste added her own laugh. "How's everything going up there?"

"It's great! Really great!" Hermione explained with a tear filled smile. "You did this for me Professor?" She asked, looking back to Professor Potter.

"They've all got one," James chuckled, gesturing around to all of the friends sat around the living room. "So you can use it to talk to your parents when you're here, or talk to your friends over the holidays."

"Exactly!" Celeste's voice came back. "That did sound like that Professor Potter of yours, is he there?"

"Yes mum," Hermione sniffled out a laugh, turning the mirror around to angle it towards Professor Potter. "That's Harry as well." She explained, causing Harry to wave towards the mirror.

"Oh my, you weren't joking when you wrote that he looked like his father." Celeste's laugh came through the mirror loud and clear.

"There's Susan, and Daphne and Neville." Hermione explained, moving the mirror around so her mum could see everyone in turn before turning it back to herself. "I've never even heard of mirrors like this before." She explained, staring at the mirror in awe for both the magic involved and how it was letting her see and talk to her parents again.

"You probably won't for a few more years," James explained patiently. "Enchanting is sixth and seventh year stuff, you've all got plenty to learn before you even start touching on this sort of stuff." He explained with a smile.

"But this... this is just so fascinating!" Hermione said with an excited grin as she continued to examine the mirror in question.

"You'll be able to use it to call us any time you want dear," Mark explained down the mirror. "Probably best on an evening or weekend, just so we're home when we call. I don't think mirrors come with answer services mixed in." He explained with a laugh.

"It's amazing!" Hermione gave a toothy grin to her father's joke.

"You should spend your birthday with your friends, we just wanted to say happy birthday and that we're still here for you to talk to, any time you want alright?" Celeste smiled over through the mirror. "And do be sure to say thank you to that professor of yours and Harry for their thoughtful gift."

"I will mum." Hermione nodded back, she wasn't likely to forget that any time soon. "I'll... I'll call on Saturday evening alright?"

"Alright dear," Celeste smiled over. "Have a good day and I hope you enjoy the rest of your presents."

"Happy birthday." Mark added one last time as the two smiled across at Hermione, with Celeste blowing a quick kiss before the mirror fogged over again and returned to her reflection.

"That... I... thank you Professor!" Hermione said, turning to Professor Potter with an expression of pure joy on her face. "I didn't think I'd be able to hear from them at all until Christmas."

"The school is pretty bad at stuff like that," James admitted with a grimace. "I cast a few unbreakable and cleaning charms on it, so you don't have to worry about it breaking or anything." He explained. "Everyone else has one, you just have to use their first names to call through to their mirrors."

"They're amazing!" Hermione breathed out, turning the mirror around in her hands and examining it from every angle. "I didn't even know this sort of magic was possible."

"They're really rare," Neville explained with a smile. "Most people just use the floo or owls."

"My aunt says the same," Susan nodded in agreement, sharing a small smile with Neville. "She'd love one for all the Aurors, but it'd be a pain to get them all enchanted to contact all the others."

"And you all have one?" Hermione asked, looking around her friends who all nodded and smiled back. "I can't wait to learn how to make these!" She said with a wide grin.

"I want to learn how to be an animagus, dad turning into a lion whenever he wants is so cool!" Harry grinned over.

"First alchemy, now enchanting?" Daphne asked with a wry smirk on her face. "You do know that's NEWT level magic right?" She asked.

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared and reading ahead." Hermione shot back with a wide smile, knowing that Daphne was just as interested in advanced magic as she was.

"You know those three are going to blow past us all when it's exam time right?" Susan mock whispered over to Neville.

"I know," Neville grinned back with a small blush as he looked across at Susan.

"Ah, right on time." James smiled, interrupting the chatter as he stood up from the couch. "What birthday party is complete without cake and snacks?" He asked with a grin, pointing across to the food that had popped into existence on the long table by the window that overlooked the quidditch pitch outside.

"Cake?" Hermione asked in amazement. "I... I didn't expect..."

"You're not supposed to expect a surprise party, I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of it." James grinned over. "Go on you five, help yourselves, and later on I might have a few more spells to start teaching you to keep you ahead of what Professor Flitwick has got you on right now." He said with a smirk and a wink as the five kids started to make their way over to the party food and fill up their plates with snacks and nibbles.

The room was soon filled with laughter again as the group of kids started chatting amongst themselves about various birthday gifts they'd received over the years.

"Happy birthday Hermione," James whispered, more to himself than anything else as he moved to stand by the doorway of the room, content to just watch the five kids just enjoying being kids for once, no three headed dogs, no trolls, no Voldemort possessed Quirrell's, just kids enjoying a birthday party.

It wouldn't make up for the seven years he'd missed of birthdays and all the mess he'd been through with Hermione in his past, but just for now, seeing this Hermione smile and laugh as Harry told her a joke while they nibbled on sausage rolls and crisps, it seemed to make things just that little bit easier.

He could only hope wherever his Hermione was, if she even existed anymore after all his changes with the past, that she was as happy and carefree as this Hermione was. If nothing else, she deserved that more than anyone, and maybe this small bit of happiness her younger self was enjoying could start to make up for everything his Hermione had lost over the years because of being his friend.

With that thought in his mind, he moved away back to the office to leave the kids to it. They deserved a little bit of fun away from everyone else, and if it helped them enjoy their childhoods just a little bit longer, then he'd make sure to do it every single year, for each one of them.


	29. Chapter 29

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

As September ended and the nights grew colder through October, James found himself enjoying teaching more and more as the weeks progressed.

It was tiring, but rewarding at the same time, and teaching everyone from the small first year kids he remembered being his friends in his own personal past, through to seventh years who were brushing up on more advanced curses and charms ready for their final NEWT exams, was more fun than he'd ever had in his years as an Auror.

It was actually surprising him how well he'd fit into the role, and made him wonder why he'd never thought about teaching before.

He remembered having fun when trying to help everyone out in his fifth year of school. He'd managed to teach everyone the disarming spell and the patronus charm, despite the patronus being well beyond NEWT level magic, and he'd had a rather stunning amount of success teaching it as well.

October had been moving pretty quickly, and while he'd taken the time out specifically to teach the five of 'his kids' as he'd come to think of them, how to cast proper warming charms over their cloaks and robes, he still found himself keeping watch over them carefully for any interference that might come their way.

Malfoy had written back to Sirius, explaining that he knew who had attacked Godric's Hollow and why they had left the country now. It wasn't groundbreaking news, but it was nice to have it confirmed. The fact Malfoy hadn't pushed for a meeting after giving away that information was puzzling, and he hadn't asked for anything in return, which had been bugging both him and Sirius, as that certainly wasn't the way either of them knew Slytherins to operate.

He'd found out about Amelia and Julia conning Sirius into taking his family seat on the Wizengamot, that piece of information had had him laughing non stop for a few hours as he tried to imagine Sirius being all proper and respectful while listening to posturing idiots waffling on about laws and budgets.

Sirius had thankfully ruined that impression within five minutes, constantly referring to the Wizengamot as 'Wizenmaggots' instead, much to Amelia and Julia's annoyance. He'd found it so amusing that he'd actually started using 'Wizenmaggots' himself, finding it definitely fitting to that collection of corrupt idiots that actually ran the country.

Overall though, he was tense. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Voldemort had now been quiet since the first of September, aside from Greyback's attack on Diagon Alley, which they'd never actually confirmed had been ordered by Voldemort or if it had simply been Greyback's idea with the other Death Eaters following him for their usual appetites for mayhem and chaos.

Generally he was leaning to believe it had been Greyback's idea. The attack wasn't well planned, and certainly not effective, and it exposed three of Voldemort's marked Death Eaters in a single swoop, making it a rather stupid mistake that didn't really feel like something Voldemort would plan.

The attack on Godric's Hollow they knew was just low tier Death Eaters acting out and trying to get into Voldemort's good graces again, but it hadn't been an attack that had been ordered or planned by him. That left James feeling somewhat uneasy as he tried to figure out exactly what Voldemort was doing now that everyone in the country knew he had returned.

He'd pulled all of his fifth and sixth year memories out and had a pensieve that was literally swimming in the milky whisps of clouds, and had been through them all piece by piece to try and find any pattern or distinctive activity that he'd missed the first time around.

It was irritating to learn that Voldemort had either been just as quiet when he'd first appeared in his school years, or that he'd been attacking other places and either Dumbledore hadn't told him about it, or he just hadn't heard about it from anywhere.

Looking back, he had to admit that through school, he'd stayed pretty much to his own little group with Hermione and Ron, and hadn't paid much attention to the outside world beyond Hogwarts at all. Even with the lies and cover ups from The Ministry in his fifth year, he should have heard something, but there was nothing in his memories about Voldemort's attacks at all.

Most of his fifth year memories were dealing with Umbridge, Malfoy and the rest of the Inquisition Squad, with the only hints of Voldemort's return being the breakout from Azkaban, and then the battle through the Department of Mysteries, where Voldemort's return was finally brought out into the open.

That left an entire year where Voldemort and the Death Eaters either hadn't done anything and had simply been planning and biding their time, or they had been acting out, and The Ministry had been covering it up. The problem was, he couldn't figure out which it was.

Voldemort being quiet and planning an attack seemed likely, and figuring his target was going to be Azkaban was easy enough. It was just a matter of figuring out when the attack was likely to occur, and making a plan from there.

While his war with Voldemort had stalled and fallen into more of a waiting pattern, his personal time had actually been the most enjoyable he'd had in quite a few years.

Amelia and Julia both spent regular evenings in the castle now, enjoying meals and evenings chatting and getting to know each other better. He now knew that Julia's family on her great grandmother's side actually came over from south eastern Norway nearly two centuries ago, and were actually distantly linked to the royal family's blood line there.

They'd had quite a fun conversation about cryomancy and the way her family was particularly gifted with ice magic, with Julia taking the time to show off some of her talents with wandless magics that were far beyond anything James was capable of.

All in all, things were going well, which is why he was surprised one evening to return to his office to find Sirius sat on his desk, pensively flicking through one of his fourth year text books with a worried expression on his face.

"What's happened?" James asked, moving into the office properly and closing the door behind him so they could talk properly.

"Mooney reached out again," Sirius said by way of explanation as he dropped the text book on the desk next to him with a thump. "The usual excuses and 'But Dumbledore said' bullshit in his letter." He explained with a frown.

"Ah," James nodded, moving over to one of the spare chairs and collapsing down into it, dropping the parchments he'd been carrying onto the chair next to him. "And?" He asked curiously, looking up at Sirius with a questioning glance.

"And what?" Sirius asked, looking back at him.

"And? What do you want to do about it?" James shot back. "He's your friend, not mine." He pointed out. "I barely knew him, we spoke for maybe a year with him teaching me, then bits and pieces after that when Voldemort returned. I don't really care one way or the other." He explained with a shrug.

"See, I don't get that." Sirius frowned over. "Why didn't he stay in touch? Help you? Talk to you about Prongs and Lily? Tell you all the stories like he should have done?"

"Don't know," James admitted, ruffling his hair in frustration. "Look, I don't know his reasons, or his excuses. It doesn't change anything as far as I'm concerned." He explained with a shrug. "I'm only considering forgiving him because it was pointed out to me that he was barely out of school when he became an idiot and followed Dumbledore around like a puppy." He said with a small smirk at Sirius' snort of amusement. "Just like you and my parents." He explained bluntly, causing Sirius to look at him in surprise.

"You'd really forgive him for being such a prat for all those years?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Forgive him, yeah." James nodded thoughtfully. "I can't say I'd ever trust him, not with how I know he acted in the future, but maybe, if he pulled his head out of his arse and actually started acting like a decent human being, maybe." He explained.

"That's the problem right, trust?" Sirius asked with a frown. "He'll know you're not Prongs the moment you walk in the door."

"Werewolf thing?" James asked, cocking his head to the side as he contemplated that.

"Hardly," Sirius snorted, shaking his head. "You're not Prongs, hell, you're not even what I'd ever thought Prongslett would grow up like." He explained. "You look like him, but you're not. It's not just in the way you talk, or glare at people for being idiots, it's everything, right down to your clothes and how you slouch around."

"Not like my dad?" James asked, actually curious now.

"Nothing like Prongs." Sirius shook his head again. "Prongs wouldn't be caught dead in jeans and a muggle denim shirt for starters." He explained with a small grin. "Fine Acromantula silk robes with Gryffindor piping was the only way to go as far as he was concerned."

"That just sounds like a nightmare to me," James shot back with a shake of his head in disgust as he tried picturing wearing anything like that.

"That's what I mean," Sirius explained, pointing his finger directly at him. "You're not Prongs, it's everything, even how you walk, it's nothing like Prongs." He said with a frown. "You might look like him, but aside from that..." He trailed off with a sad expression on his face.

"Sorry," James said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say when faced with that sort of knowledge. "I never really... well, Minerva gave me a few memories of mum and dad when they were in classes and stuff, but that's all I really had of them."

"It's hard, you know, thinking about them when you're stood there looking like that." Sirius said with a frown. "Just for a moment, every now and again, I catch a look at you and it takes me a minute to remember you're not him." He explained with a pained expression on his face. "I know you're Harry, I get that, it's just hard you know?"

"Yeah," James nodded thoughtfully. "Look, about Remus, do you really think we can trust him with all of this?"

"Maybe," Sirius hedged, shifting around on the desk as he contemplated the thought. "Nine years ago, I'd have said without a doubt, but now..." He trained off with a frown. "It's not just you or the other you he screwed over. nine years and he didn't even bother to try and find out if I was guilty or not, he just assumed I was and was happy to forget about me."

"There's still Pettigrew out there to deal with as well," James pointed out. "Not like hunting down that rat will be any easier this time than it was last time."

"Did you ever get him last time?" Sirius asked curiously.

"He strangled himself with his silver arm, it was a gift from Voldemort." James explained at Sirius' questioning look. "He died at Malfoy Manor while we were escaping if you like the irony."

"I don't," Sirius frowned at the thought. "Voldemort gave him a silver arm? What happened to his real arm?"

"Cut his own hand off in the ritual to give Voldemort a new body." James answered bluntly. "Flesh of the servant, willingly given." He muttered, shaking his head. "Can't forget that night, however much I'd love to."

"Fitting then," Sirius muttered. "I don't even know how you'd give someone a new hand like that." He frowned as he racked his mind for what sort of charm that must be. "I've never heard of anything like that before."

"Me neither," James shook his head. "Seriously, I looked into it, nobody's even heard of it before, most of the people I asked about it wouldn't even believe it had happened." He explained, rubbing his stubble thoughtfully. "Think it was one of Voldemort's own spells?"

"Maybe," Sirius mused aloud. "Doesn't sound like something ol' snakeface would come up with though. A spell that helps people and gives them a hand back? Doesn't sound much like him to me."

"Point," James nodded, conceding that Sirius actually had a good point with that. If it was common place, then Mad-Eye would have used it to replace his leg, so it was obviously either obscure or magic that needed a hell of a lot of power to cast. "Some lost magic he dug up from somewhere then?"

"Maybe," Sirius muttered. "Doesn't really matter right? Wormtail doesn't have the silver hand now right?"

"Nope," James shook his head. "Voldemort didn't give it to him until he cut off his arm in the ritual, end of my fourth year. He was still hiding out as a rat with the Weasley's at this point."

"Well, we know he isn't going to be using that ritual any time soon, not after you blasted the grave into dust." Sirius frowned as he thought about Wormtail. "He's not with them anymore?"

"I double checked, Ron hasn't got him and Percy hasn't seen him since the summer when you had your trial." James explained. "He probably went into hiding straight away."

"He always did know when to get out of sight," Sirius muttered with a dark expression on his face. "Think he's gone running back to snakeface?"

"If he could find Voldemort, he's done a better job than any of us could." James snorted at the thought. "He's probably holed up somewhere living his ratty life until he hears anything. Hiding away again, seems to be his style."

"Probably," Sirius bit out. "So our chances of catching up to him are pretty much squat."

"Something like that." James said with an apologetic expression on his face. "No offence, but I've got bigger fish to fry than the rat. If he pops his head up, I'll take it off, but until then..."

"Yeah, he's small fish compared to snakeface, it's just... it's personal right?" Sirius said with a dark expression on his face.

"He's yours if we find him." James promised, knowing that Sirius' freedom didn't hinge on Pettigrew one way or the other this time around, so he could very happily hand the rat over and let Sirius do as he wanted with the betrayer.

"Good," Sirius nodded in agreement with that. "And Mooney?"

"Mooney," James sighed, slumping back in his chair. "We'll talk, I'm all for second chances, but if he ends up running to Dumbledore again..."

"We can both curse the shit out of him." Sirius interrupted with a slightly manic grin.

"Well, you can, I was just going to obliviate him so far back that he'd need to start potty training all over again." James smirked over. "Though I do have a great hex for actually cursing the shit out of someone if you really want to know."

"Oh?" Sirius perked up a bit at that, raising an eyebrow towards James. "Actually cursing the shit out of someone?" He asked in amusement. Emphasising the word 'actually' as he spoke.

"I figured it out with George... Weasley that is, prankster extraordinaire." James explained with a smirk. "You'd like them, Fred and George, they're right up your alley for mischief and headaches." He said with a grin. "Anyway, it's a combination of a severe flatulence hex and a bowel loosening hex. Lasts about an hour before it wears off."

"Nasty," Sirius winced, shuddering at the mental image that description brought up. "That's what I call cursing the shit out of someone."

"Definitely, the only problem is it's pretty much immediate, and if you're close enough to cast it, you're close enough to smell it when it hits." James explained, pulling a face to indicate he'd been that close before and it wasn't a pleasant experience for anyone involved. "Seriously, it's like a bout of instant and explosive diarrhoea, and just downright messy to see."

"Right, not going to be trying that one out anytime soon." Sirius muttered, shaking his head at the thought.

"It's for the best," James nodded in agreement. "Send Remus an owl, we can talk to him and figure out where to go from there."

"You're serious about forgiving him?" Sirius asked curiously. "And not just because of... Teddy you called him? Mooney's son?"

"Not just that, but..." James trailed off with a shrug. "If he can actually pull his head out of his arse, maybe he'd be a good help to us with all this."

"Maybe," Sirius grunted. "Mooney I can see as a professor." He said with a smirk. "You... I'm still having trouble with that one."

"You're far too irritating when I've got a wand in easy reach," James shot back with a mock glare. "Owl him and see what he says. I've got Tonks coming over in a bit to brush up on her curse work."

"Senior or junior?" Sirius asked as he hopped off James' desk.

"The colourful one," James said with a roll of his eyes.

"Little Nymphadora," Sirius grinned widely at that. "Hows she doing anyway?"

"Alright actually," James admitted. "Her shields need some work, and her cursing isn't worth shit, but now she's got the patronus down she's getting a hell of a lot better with everything."

"Little Nymphadora can cast a proper patronus?" Sirius asked in amazement. "What is it?"

"Little bouncing rabbit thing," James answered with a grin. "Little thing was bouncing all over the classroom like it was made of pure coffee the first time she managed to pull it out."

"Weird things," Sirius shook his head in amusement.

"You ever learn to cast one?" James asked curiously. "I don't remember ever seeing you cast it now that I'm thinking about it."

"Never got the hang of it," Sirius shook his head. "Not before Azkaban, and now..."

"Happy memories aren't that easy to come by," James filled in with a knowing nod. "Alright, I'll see if I can teach you sometime when I've got the time."

"Thanks," Sirius grinned over with an easy smile as James stood up, giving him a friendly nudge with his shoulder. "Nearly finished in the basement by the way, think you're going to love it down there."

"Oh?" James perked up at that, raising an eyebrow towards Sirius. "You hadn't mentioned it for a while, thought you'd given up on it."

"Just had a bit of trouble with the sand and some of the water enchantments freezing over instead of heating up," Sirius shrugged. "Tropical ice rink wasn't really the look I was going for, but I'll get it finished this weekend I reckon. The little waterfall kindof turned out running hot instead, so it's sort of a demented cross between a waterfall and a shower." He explained with a laugh.

"Next week then," James grinned, going to a mental happy place of him and Amelia enjoying a tropical skinny-dipping evening just to themselves. "Let me know what Remus says."

"Will do," Sirius nodded back as he headed through to the living room to use the fireplace. "Hows Harry doing with school anyway?" He asked curiously.

"Better than I did," James snorted in amusement as he followed Sirius through. "He's got glowing reports from Minerva, Filius and Andromeda. I swear he's going to get better grades in his first year than I did after my OWL's."

"Good on him! Guess he's got more of Lily in him than Prongs." Sirius grinned over. "Any ideas what he'd like for Christmas?" He asked curiously. "Since you already got him that fancy broom, I can't really think of anything else."

"Aside from the pranking bits you're already planning for him?" James asked with a smirk.

"Obviously," Sirius grinned back as he grabbed a handful of floo powder.

"Seriously though, you want to give him something that'll really mean something to him? Spend a day in the pensieve with him showing him our mum and dad." James explained with a sad expression on his face. "Ever since I found out about pensieves, it always pissed me off that I never knew about them in time for you to show me anything about my parents." He said with a soft voice. "You've got that chance now." He said, giving Sirius a firm look to show he was serious.

"I'll make sure of it." Sirius promised, giving James a solemn nod and a vow not to let him down on this. "Their wedding might be a good one to start off with, then some of our pranks, and Prongs coming home from his first date with Lily."

"Perfect," James nodded. "And if you..."

"I'll leave a copy in your office for your pensieve as well," Sirius nodded, knowing already what James was going to ask. "Anyway, enough mushy stuff, go on and teach that niece of mine how to kick arse alright?"

"Fine," James snorted, shaking his head at Sirius' childlike attitude. "Have fun with the lagoon." He offered with a grin before Sirius stepped into the fireplace and vanished in a puff of emerald fire.

Heading back into the office area, James took a moment to sort through the parchments he'd dumped on the chair for now, moving them onto the desk for marking later on. It was only first year essays on the smoke screen charm, hardly anything exciting, the highest hopes he actually had was that any of them actually did the reading properly before he was ready to teach them the spell on Monday.

It also didn't help that Halloween was fast approaching, and with memories of the troll incident fresh in his mind, along with plans to take his younger self out to Godric's Hollow to see where their parents lived, he was feeling quite distracted with everything lately.

Forcing those thoughts aside for now, and making a mental note to keep an eye out around the school on Halloween, he gabbed a few of the more advanced curse books from his shelf and got ready for Nymphadora to turn up. Maybe today they'd actually get somewhere with the flame whip curse, despite Nymphadora's natural tendencies to stick to safer 'point and cast' style magic.

And hopefully she wouldn't end up in the hospital wing due to her own clumsiness while casting, again, for the fourth time.

* * *

Outside on the Hogwarts grounds, the infamous six friends were all enjoying the first snow of the year, laughing and playing around while chatting about everything that had happened so far this year.

Ever since Hermione's birthday, the five had turned into six and had grown into a tight nit group of friends, with Tracey joining in and making fast friends with Harry, Susan and Neville, they'd become a group that seemed to puzzle the rest of the school.

Two Hufflepuffs, two Gryffindors, and two Slytherins, all in one group and chatting amongst themselves while helping each other out wasn't something that anyone else around Hogwarts was really used to seeing.

Most of the Hufflepuffs had got used to it by now and simply accepted the group, after seeing Daphne, Hermione, Neville and Tracey join Harry and Susan in the common room for studying and playing games, they'd simply watched then just let them get on with it.

The Gryffindors were mostly confused by the whole thing, on the one hand, Slytherins weren't to be trusted at all, and were generally hated on sight, but on the other hand, Harry Potter was in the group and was making friends with the two snakes, and had made it very clear on a few occasions that he utterly hated bullies of any sort.

The fact that both Hermione and Neville were ploughing through school work and earning more points for Gryffindor than anyone else added to this confusion, as the two were generally looked on as outcasts in the Gryffindor house, but had somehow become friends with Potter and his little group. So for now, the Gryffindors had adopted a 'wait and see' approach to the whole thing.

In Slytherin, the 'wait and see' approach was firmly ingrained in their house, even Malfoy hadn't said anything, but everyone had noticed him and Parkinson paying close attention to Greengrass and Davis, watching their interactions and friendships closely.

Without Snape there to give the Slytherins free reign over the school, even the older students had learnt very quickly to curb their old behaviours. There was no-one in the school now to protect them from McGonagall or favour them over the other houses, which meant they actually had to earn their house points properly this year, and currently Slytherin was in fourth place for the House Cup, thanks to quite a few detentions and point losses early in the year before the idiots in the house learnt that the professors weren't joking around about the new school rules.

Added to that was the fact that Slytherin House had lost a few students to transfers out of the school already this year, nobody really spoke about it aloud, but even the most idiotic of Slytherins had been able to put two and two together and see what had happened. With James Potter in the school, nobody wanted to risk spouting off pure blood dogma anywhere where it might get back to him, which left the Slytherin common room the only place really where it was banded around, and even there it was done so dubiously with everyone looking around and double checking that nobody else was listening in.

While Harry was having the time of his life actually finding friends and somewhere to belong, Draco Malfoy was not happy with the way his Hogwarts year had started at all.

It was somehow made even worse by the fact that Potter was a 'Puff, making everyone look at the Hufflepuff house differently now. If he'd been an idiot Gryff, or even a 'Claw, then that would have at least been something, but he was in the house of the duffers, but from what he'd heard, he was still out performing practically everyone when it came to his magic. It just wasn't right to see a duffer winning house points and being disgustingly popular with everyone.

He'd grown up being told that he would rule his Slytherin year easily when he started school, after all, the Malfoy family were the richest and most powerful of all the pure blood families, it was his right to rule the best house in the school. Now that the older Potter had somehow come back to life though, everything had changed. He'd expected his father to be ecstatic about the news that Potter had defeated Dumbledore and forced him out of the school, only for his father to give him very firm instructions about laying low, towing the line, and not to antagonise Potter junior or senior, or their associates, in any way.

Which annoyingly meant he had to put up with seeing Greengrass and Davis sullying themselves and sitting with a mudblood during classes. What added an injury to that insult was the fact that that same mudblood was outperforming practically everyone else in their year. It was disgusting and she was obviously cheating somehow, after all, how could a mudblood be better at magic than any of the pure blood Slytherin families? She had to be cheating, it was the only explanation.

Proving it however, had Draco stumped. Moving against the mudblood meant moving against Potter, which he'd been expressly forbidden to do. Not to mention the fact that there were now no teachers that he could actually talk to and voice his concerns. Without his godfather here to protect him from reprisals, he was quite literally stuck for ideas. When Crabbe, Goyle and Nott had all transferred to Durmstrang without even saying anything to him, it had left him and Zabini the only two male Slytherins in his year.

It wasn't a good start to his year at all, and he utterly hated to think that this was how the rest of his Hogwarts years were going to go. Something had to be done to fix all of this, but with his father obviously being forced into the waiting game as well, he had absolutely no idea what he could do or how he could put things right again.

* * *

**Godric's Hollow**

**West Country**

**October 19th**

The snow was coming down thick and fast as James and Sirius apparated to Godric's Hollow, both of them turning away from the freshly rebuilt statue of the Potter Family that stood proudly in the town square. For both of them it was simply a reminder of that night and everything Harry had lost, a reminder that neither of them constantly needed.

"Sirius, James... James?"

Both of them turned around at the same time, Sirius with a glare on his face as he recognised the voice, and James with a weary caution, eyeing the man he hadn't seen in so long.

Remus was just exactly as he remembered the man being, wearing threadbare clothes that looked like they'd seen far too many repairing charms, mussled hair and a weary expression on his face. "Who are you?" He demanded instantly, his wand coming out as anger flushed across his face.

"Mooney, it's..." Sirius started as soon as he saw the wand, but James was far quicker off the mark, a disarming charm flew with pinpoint accuracy, followed by a scarlet banishing charm, that knocked Remus back as his wand sailed out of his hands and arced across the air into James' waiting hand. "It's not what you think." He finished off lamely, flicking his eyes between where Remus had ended up sprawled on the snow covered ground, and where Junior was simply holding Mooney's wand with a resigned expression on his face.

"That's not Prongs!" Remus spat out, climbing to his feet angrily and getting ready to charge Sirius and the impostor.

"No, I'm not." James shot back, glaring across at Remus angrily.

"I know he's not," Sirius said flatly, stepping between Junior and Remus. "You're going to have to hear me out on this Mooney, it's all... it's all a bloody mess." He explained with a frown.

"Who are you?" Remus demanded, glaring over to where James was stood behind Sirius.

"Harry Potter." James explained bluntly.

"Don't lie to me!" Remus spat back.

"He's not," Sirius shook his head. "Honest, swear on my own grave, he's little Harry." He said, looking across at Remus and begging him to understand this.

"It's not possible," Remus shook his head, refusing to even consider the idea. "He's older than we are, it's not..."

"A broken time turner and a stupid amount of Potter luck." James explained with a small shrug. "But I don't care if you believe me or not, so think whatever you want." He said, disinterested either way.

"Prove it." Remus glared over. "Tell me something only Harry would know?"

"Oh? How am I going to do that?" James muttered, shaking his head. "You've never met Harry, not since I... he was a baby anyway. Go on, what am I supposed to prove? That you're a werewolf? Pft, hardly news. That you were a marauder with my dad, Sirius and Peter Pettigrew? Anyone in Hogwarts with you would have known that." He rattled off quickly. "That you're a decent defence teacher when you don't have your head up Dumbledore's arse? Or that you just abandon people and blame it on being a werewolf, just because you can't think that maybe other people can look past it when you can't!" He spat out, glaring across at Remus.

"That... I'm... that's not true!" Remus argued back half heartedly.

"More lies," James shook his head at the argument. "I swear, when Greyback infected you, he must have dropped you on your head as well, it's the only explanation for your hard headed stupidity."

"How did you know about that?" Remus demanded.

"You told me," James shot back with a casual roll of his eyes.

"You can't... you can't be Harry. Harry's got Lily's eyes, and that scar!" Remus shook his head, firmly denying the facts being presented to him.

"Contact lenses, muggle makeup." James explained, spitting on his hand and wiping some of the makeup away from his forehead, revealing the scar underneith so that Remus could see it, even in the dim streetlights of Godric's Hollow.

"It's really Prongslet Remus, really really." Sirius explained, keeping a reasonable voice as he tried to get Remus on board with this.

"But... you... a time turner?" Remus stammered out, his eyes flicking between Sirius and James in shock. "That... that's not possible."

"It broke anyway," James explained, shaking his head. "If it was still working, I'd have gone back and stopped Voldemort from killing my mum and dad. It would have been a hell of a lot easier than all of this crap." He said bluntly, ruffling his hair in annoyance before idly tossing Remus' wand back to him. "Look, I don't give a crap if you believe me or not, it doesn't make a difference to me either way."

"But... you... Harry?" Remus whispered out the name, looking over and trying to see if there was anything in the James look-a-like that he truly recognised.

"It's really him," Sirius nodded softly, seeing the look of disbelief on Remus' face and recognising the feeling well enough from where he'd been slapped in the face with the truth of the situation. "He's the one that got me out of Azkaban, managed to get the truth about Wormtail out there for everyone to see."

"He... Padfoot, I didn't know, really!" Remus said quickly, turning to Sirius now. "I knew there was a spy somewhere, and Wormtail just kept talking about you and your family, it just... I just didn't think."

"Shocker," James snorted, shaking his head.

"Junior," Sirius shot back, giving James a mild glare for his attitude. "That was Wormtail's plan, break us apart. With me he kept talking about werewolves and how so many of them had joined up with snakeface, trying to make me think that you were the spy. He probably told Prongs both of the stories, trying to get him to doubt both of us. It made it easier for him to slide in and position himself to be their secret keeper."

"I can't believe Wormtail was working for Voldemort." Remus whispered, shaking his head in disbelief at the fact.

"But you believed it was Sirius easily enough." James frowned over.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Remus whispered, looking over at James... Harry... whichever. "If you're really Harry, then... I was friends with your dad."

"Was friends," James repeated, narrowing his eyes over towards Remus. "Lets think shall we?" He said, pacing around Sirius so he could look at Remus clearly. "You abandoned me to The Dursleys, leaving me to grow up sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs, working like a slave for them without even knowing my parents names." He spat out, glaring over to Remus. "You toadied up to Dumbledore who was quite happily planning for me to commit suicide in a rather fatal show down with Voldemort, and then you abandoned me again when Sirius died!" He shouted out. "Gee, why would I have trouble trusting you? Let me think." He snarled out sarcastically.

"Harry, I don't... I didn't..."

"You did." James spat back. "The other Harry had to go through all of that as well, I didn't even get back here until the summer, I had to go and rescue him myself... rescue myself... whatever, when you should have been there if you were really my dad's friend."

"Harry, it's not... it's not that simple." Remus argued, shaking his head.

"Yes, it is." James shot back. "When a friend dies, you take care of things for them. That's what friends do. That's what I did after you died, took care of things, helped raise your son. Everything you should have done for me!" He shouted, storming forwards and poking Remus in the chest. "Because that's what you should have done instead of listening to Dumbledore's lies!" He practically screamed.

"Junior," Sirius whispered, stepping closer and putting his hand on James' shoulder.

"You... my son?" Remus whispered in disbelief.

"Not that I ever saw what she saw in you," James spat out, storming away from Remus in disgust. "You abandoned her too you know, the same old story, afraid that your son would end up a werewolf like you are. He wasn't by the way, but you already know that it can't be transmitted like that. It was just you being a coward again."

"That's not fair Junior." Sirius said softly, shaking his head towards James.

"Life isn't fair, that lesson was beaten into me by The Dursley's before my tenth birthday." James glared back to Sirius. "Why is he deserving of your loyalty, when he was so happy to just believe you deserved to be in Azkaban?" He demanded, fixing Sirius with a questioning look.

"Because that's what friends do," Sirius said softly, looking back to James now and parroting his earlier words back to him. "You said you'd give him a chance."

James simply stared back at Sirius for a beat before he nodded, stepping away and running his hand through his messy hair with a huff. "You know, it's really weird being back here right now." He muttered, shaking his head in annoyance. "You know, the first time around, I never got any of this. I didn't see all the lies, the manipulations, the arguments and bullshit?" He explained with a sigh. "I guess I was just too young to understand it all back then."

"Probably," Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "It's not like kids should have been involved in all of this anyway." He said with a hurt expression on his face.

"Not like I had a choice, not with Dumbledore leading me around by the nose." James groaned, shaking his head at how innocent and naive he had been back then.

"Harry... I'm not... I can't... how can I say sorry for that?" Remus whispered, looking over at the man with a sorrowful expression. "If... if you're really..."

"He is." Sirius interrupted firmly. "I've seen his memories in a pensieve, it's a whole Merlin-be-damned nightmare straight out of our lives."

"You're changing history, by being here?" Remus asked in shock, realising what both Sirius and Harry were saying. "But... that... time turners can't be used like that."

"Two thousand Nineteen, apparently they can." James corrected him with a smirk. "Not that I even know how the damn thing threw me back here anyway, but I'm not exactly going to look a gift horse in the mouth." He said, causing Sirius to snort with laughter and shake his head at him.

"So, are we done with this now?" Sirius asked, looking between the two. "Because I'm kind of sick of being the reasonable one here, it's not a good look for me you know."

"I knew the world was ending for a reason," James muttered, sarcastically looking around for signs of the upcoming apocalypse.

"Smart arse," Sirius grinned over. "So? Are we?"

"Depends if Remus is going to run and tattle to Dumbledore or not?" James asked, looking over to Remus and narrowing his eyes at him.

"Nobody knows where he is," Remus shook his head. "I've been looking for him for ages now, nobody's seen him, not since whatever happened at Hogwarts happened."

"Since Junior kicked his arse and booted him out of the school you mean." Sirius smirked across. "That... actually, that's a bit weird, for Dumbledore?" He asked, looking at James now for his thoughts.

"He sent Shacklebolt to come and talk to me before he got sacked from The Aurors," James mused thoughtfully, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets to keep them warm. "But I haven't seen heard a peep from him since then." He frowned, trying to reason out what Dumbledore would be doing. "Voldemort's lying low as well."

"Both of them, doing the same thing?" Sirius mused, looking at James with a raised eyebrow.

"It's eerie when you realise how alike those two really are isn't it?" James snorted in amusement before turning back to Remus. "But that doesn't answer if you're still answering to him or not?"

"Professor Dumbledore... he's done a lot for me... he..."

"No he hasn't," James shook his head, cutting Remus off.

"He let me come to Hogwarts." Remus corrected him.

"Oh wow, he let a werewolf come to Hogwarts, just in the years when Voldemort's war was in full blast and he needed a spy in the werewolves that were siding with him." James explained, adopting a look of shock on his face. "Wow, wherever will he find a spy indebted to him?" He asked sarcastically, turning to look at Remus with an act of exaggerated surprise.

"It wasn't like that." Remus denied immediately.

"Oh? Then how many other werewolves did he accept to Hogwarts?" James asked, raising an eyebrow over to Remus. "We know Greyback used to infect whole families, had a particular thing for the kids. So, how many other werewolves did the great and powerful Dumbledore let in to Hogwarts?" He asked, patiently tapping his foot as he looked over at Remus. "Well?"

"Mooney?" Sirius asked, looking over to his friend.

"There wasn't any others," Remus admitted, shaking his head softly. "I checked, I asked him to let others, children, they were like me but..."

"He had his spy, why would he need to let any more werewolves in?" James shrugged.

"You knew he was using you and you still went along with it?" Sirius demanded.

"What was I supposed to do?" Remus asked, looking at Sirius now. "Just say no?" He asked. "I couldn't leave... not just Hogwarts... but you, Prongs... Peter and Lily... I couldn't say no and walk away from you all."

Sirius stood there, stunned at that admission as he stared at his friend.

"If I said no to anything he asked me to do, he could have reported me to The Ministry." Remus explained. "I'd lose my wand, everything." He said softly.

"Did he ever threaten that?" James asked curiously.

"Not like that," Remus shook his head. "It was more the constant reminders of everything he'd done for me. Giving me an education, friends, somewhere to stay when I changed... all of it... if it came out that I was a werewolf, I'd loose... I'd loose all of it."

"So he just use the grandfather act and the disappointed look whenever he wanted something from you and you didn't want to play along." James nodded, knowing that side of Dumbledore far too well.

"Bugger this," Sirius said loudly, shaking his head. "If we're talking about deep shit like this, then I'm going to need a bottle of firewhiskey just to make it through the night." He said firmly. "Now, Mooney isn't going to run off to Dumbledick, and you're not going to obliviate him back to being a puppy, right?" He asked, looking at Remus and then over to James in turn. "Right?"

"A puppy?" James smirked, shaking his head. "I got trained in fake memories when I was in the Aurors you know?" He said, looking over to Sirius. "I could have you thinking you were a first year witch by the end of the night."

"You wouldn't..." Sirius whispered, stepping a bit closer to Remus now as he got worried by the glint in Junior's eye.

"I'd have Susan braid your hair." James smirked over, seeing the horrified look on Sirius' face.

"I definitely need a drink," Remus nodded firmly at that, happy to completely gloss over the rather terrifying threat of James... Harry... obliviating him back to childhood.

"That Mooney, is the first sensible thing you've said all night!" Sirius crowed, looping his arm over Remus' shoulders. "The Three Broomsticks?"

"Might as well," James sighed, shaking his head. "I'll have to check through my pensieve for the recipe for the Wolfsbane potion at some point."

"You know how to brew that?" Remus asked, turning to James as the three started walking down the road of Godric's Hollow, the snow falling casually around them in the evening light.

"I'm not that good at potions," James admitted, shaking his head. "Blame five years of Snape as a teacher for that." He groused with a sigh.

"Romi could probably brew it," Sirius threw in thoughtfully.

"It's too expensive," Remus shook his head sadly. "I already looked into it, I couldn't even brew it if I could afford it, you know how bad I was at potions." He explained, slumping his shoulders.

"Let me worry about that," Sirius said, shaking his friend to get his spirits back up. "Romi can brew it, she's better than any of us at potions, hell, she took Snivellus' job at Hogwarts!"

"I'd heard Andromeda was teaching there," Remus nodded, giving Sirius a small smile at that.

"Come on, lets get a drink in, then you can fill me in on what you've been upto the last few years." Sirius grinned over. "Any female wolves come sniffing around yet?"

"No," Remus muttered dryly, shaking his head at Sirius. "Though I do want to know how I apparently have a son somewhere, according to what you said anyway." He said, turning to James now and causing him to groan in response.

"I've been trying to get it out of him as well," Sirius smirked over. "See, apparently there's a bird out there just waiting for you to come and love her up." He exclaimed with a wide grin.

"Merlin help me," James muttered as they reached a safe distance from the village, apparating away to Hogsmeade before either Sirius or Remus could start badgering him with questions about Teddy and the future.

* * *

_**AN:** Just to note, I'm not counting the "Hogwarts Mystery" stuff as canon here. No 'Chiara Lobosca' or cursed vaults underneath Hogwarts... I utterly loathed that pay to win game... biggest letdown in years..._

_I know this acts as a sort of filler or exposition chapter really, but it needed to be in place to tie up a few ends and explore some characterisation before I start moving back on to the main arcs of the fic... things done or referenced here might feel like filler, but they will be coming back as part of the plot, so don't worry about the fleshing out parts lol_


	30. Chapter 30

**TITLE: Double Back**

**DISCLAIMER:** All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.

_**AN:** Minor text taken from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling._

* * *

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Highlands of Scotland**

**31st October**

Charms class had very quickly risen to become Hermione's favourite class at the school. She'd thrown herself into it after taking on board what Professor Potter had said, and listening to both Daphne and Tracey confirm that charms was the basis for learning about enchanting later on.

The gift of that communicating mirror for her birthday had entranced her from the first time she'd used it, and she'd resolved herself that very same night to learning everything she could about enchanting so she'd be able to create things like that on her own.

This dedication had grown over the weeks leading to the end of October, when Harry and Susan had confirmed that charms was their favourite class too, giving the three of them something more to have in common and an interest for them to all practice and share together.

Every class now she'd taken to sharing a desk with Daphne, Neville and Tracey, an act that hadn't gone over too well with the rest of the people in Gryffindor house to start with, but as Harry Potter was part of their group as well and had been sitting with them regularly at lunch and dinner times, they hadn't said much aside from the usual idiots mouthing off and trying to bully her, acts that she was already very used to sadly enough.

Having friends was turning out to be a very enjoyable experience for her, and while she didn't share much in common with Tracey, they'd found a few things they could talk about and share, with Tracey being firmly interested in learning what sort of makeup and things muggles used in comparison to magical makeup, though Daphne was easily more like her when it came to a more studious nature, though in Daphne's case it reared it's head in her ambitious nature, rather than Hermione's quieter and more reserved processes.

So in partnering up lessons like today's charms class, she'd happily partnered with Daphne, while Tracey had partnered with Neville, helping the shy boy come out of his shell a bit more each time.

"Now, don't forget your wand movements."

Hermione smiled across to Daphne as she nodded back, while none of them had actually learnt the levitation charm before, the wand movements were surprisingly easy compared to some of the other ones that they'd all learnt with Harry and Susan.

"Switch and a flick, remember, swish and a flick." Professor Flitwick informed everyone from his podium at the front of the class. "And saying the magic words is equally important. Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at that, looking at Daphne for confirmation who looked just as confused as she did. Mixing up 's' and 'f' in Wingardium Leviosa didn't make much sense whatsoever, and why would it conjure a buffalo?

She watched first as Daphne tried it, her feather bouncing up and dancing around on the desk but not really levitating anywhere before she tried it for herself.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Hermione announced, putting as much will as she could focus on into the incantation as she performed the practised 'swish and a flick' motion that Professor Flitwick had been guiding them through all lesson.

She couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as he feather floated up into the air, following her wand as she slowly pointed it upwards, moving the feather up to float just above her and Daphne's heads.

"Oh, well done!" Professor Flitwick beamed from his podium. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Hermione couldn't help the blush that flushed her cheeks as she realised everyone in the classroom was staring at her, causing her concentration to lapse and the feather to float back down to the desk, swaying from side to side in the air before it dropped onto the desk in front of her.

"Show off!"

She didn't need to turn around to recognised the snarled comment, after two months in Gryffindor she was more than accustomed to Ronald Weasley's annoying voice and irritating comments by now.

"Ignore him," Daphne commented, shaking her head towards Hermione. "He's just jealous that you're doing better than he is in every class we've got."

Giving Daphne a half smile she focused on her spell again, wanting to practice and get this right. It was the same advice people always gave her, ignore the bullies, don't let them get to you, they're just words... It was always the same advice, and always spoken by people who'd never been bullied before. People who'd never been pushed around or looked down on because of their bushy hair or bucked teeth.

Sitting next to Daphne and Tracey each lesson was nice enough, and having friends made her feel like she finally fit in with everyone else, but she couldn't help but feel somewhat inadequate against girls like Daphne, who were inches taller than her, with perfect hair that was a few shades too light to even be called blonde, and perfect blue eyes.

Compared to that, she only had unmanageable and messy hair that refused to be tied back or tamed by anything short of a miracle, muddy brown eyes and teeth that had been compared to a beaver by so many people that she was starting to believe it herself.

Focusing on practising the levitating spell she did her best to put her self doubts out of her mind. It wasn't as if she actually cared what other people thought of her, she was just sick of bullies and them throwing it in her face all the time. She had friends now, people that didn't make fun of her hair or her teeth or because she was short. Friends that had fun spending time with her, friends that had actually thrown a surprise birthday party for her.

Putting Ronald Weasley and his comments out of her mind, she forced a smile on her face as she continued practising. She was going to master every single charm there was, and prove to Professor Potter that his faith in her wasn't misplaced at all.

The class passed thankfully without any further comments from the moronic Gryffindor thankfully, giving Hermione time to help Daphne, Tracey and Neville with their casting of the charm, and soon enough all three of them had managed it and had feathers floating around their desks.

"We've got to get some of the second year charms books!" Hermione grinned eagerly, walking alongside Daphne as they left the charms classroom with Neville and Tracey walking alongside them. "I bet there's absolutely loads of stuff in there that we could learn, and we'd be even more prepared for our second year!"

"We should probably work on learning all the first..." Daphne cut off as she was forcibly elbowed to the side, Hermione being pushed aside to the other side of the corridor as well as Ronald Weasley barged his way between and came to stand in front of them.

"You're just a show off, think you're better than everyone else! It's no wonder you've only got a squib and filthy snakes for friends!" Ronald spat out, glaring down at her with a flushed face and red ears. "She's a nightmare, honestly!" He raised his voice, speaking to the Dean who was trying to edge away from him without being noticed. "I don't even know how she got to come here!"

"You're just jealous that she's a better witch than you'll ever be!" Tracey shot back, standing side by side with Hermione as she righted herself in the corridor.

"Jealous? Of her?" Ronald practically spat out, his ears going bright red. "Like I'd ever be jealous of someone that hangs around with filthy snakes!" He argued back. "You're a disgrace to Gryffindor!" He glared down at Hermione. "Not like a squib could even be more of a disgrace though." He sneered over looking at Neville now.

"Just leave her alone." Daphne said firmly, stepping to stand next to Hermione, sandwiching her between her and Tracey.

"Like I'm going to listen to you Greengrass, you're just a dirty snake anyway!" Ronald shouted back.

Daphne narrowed her eyes at that, making her decision then and there. "It's not Greengrass. It's Potter." She said firmly, biting out the words.

"You'd never be a Potter, Harry Potter wouldn't even look at a snake for a girlfriend." Ronald almost laughed.

"Not Harry, Professor Potter." Daphne clarified with a small grin of glee on her face as Ronald Weasley faltered. "He'd in a betrothal with my mother right now." She explained, watching as quite a few of the Gryffindors that had gathered around turned to each other and started whispering about this information. "And Hermione is a good friend of his, and mine." She said the last.

"Why would James Potter ever be friends with someone like her?" Ronald sneered down, not believing the Slytherin girl in the slightest.

"Because unlike some people, I actually want to do well at school and learn everything I can." Hermione spoke up for the first time. "Do you think Professor Potter got that good at magic without learning everything he can about it? Without putting all the hard work into it?" She argued back. "I'll bet at school he did his best in every single lesson. Unlike some people!" She bit out, glaring up to Ronald.

"You're just a filthy snake lover, and a liar! James Potter would never be friends with you, or with snakes!" Ronald shouted back. "You're a disgrace to Gryffindor, and I'm going to make sure everyone knows it!" He shouted before he stormed off, leaving the corridor full of whispering from both the Gryffindors and Slytherins that had been gathered around to watch the confrontation.

"He really is an idiot." Daphne muttered, shaking his head.

"Why is he even arguing with me like that anyway?" Hermione huffed, a bit bewildered at the feeling that not only did she have friends, but friends that were willing to stand up for her against bullies like that as well.

"Because he's an idiot that hates seeing anyone do better than him," Tracey explained with a shrug.

"That does explain it," Daphne nodded in agreement before sighing in annoyance. "We should probably find Professor Potter." She said with a small grimace.

"Why?" Hermione cocked her head to the side as she looked at Daphne now. It wasn't like any of them were really in trouble, and aside from Ron being an idiot, she didn't want to be known as a tattle tale on top of everything else, she knew from experience that that sort of thing just made things worse.

"Because I just outed my mum and Professor Potter, and I don't even know if he wants anyone else to know about it right now." Daphne explained with a wince as she realised what she'd done.

"Oh, right." Hermione nodded quickly at that. "Was... was it supposed to be a secret?" She asked curiously, still not really understanding how that particular relationship was supposed to work.

"I don't think so," Daphne frowned thoughtfully. "Mum never said so, and Professor Potter didn't say not to say anything, but since they haven't said anything either and haven't made an official announcement yet..."

"I get it," Hermione nodded back. "He's probably in the defence classroom or his office." She said, knowing automatically where the Professor would be. "We should try and talk to him before the next lesson starts."

"You're really going to be a Potter?" Tracey asked, moving around to talk to Daphne as the three girls led the way towards the main staircase down to the third floor corridor, with Neville following behind quietly.

"Definitely," Daphne nodded with certainty. She'd been considering the pros and cons of it for weeks now, and the benefits definitely outweighed any negative connotations that would spread in Slytherin house because of the name. Those negatives had mostly been neutered anyway, thanks to Professor Vector who didn't take any nonsense going on in Slytherin, and had already docked a record breaking number of points from the bullies in their house.

"That's going to be so weird," Tracey commented, shaking her head as she tried to say Daphne Potter in her head without it sounding too strange. "How long have your mum and Professor Potter been..."

"Together?" Daphne cocked her head to the side as she considered it. "We were told about it just after we started school." She said thoughtfully. "So about two months?" She said with a nod to herself.

"Wow, Professor Potter kept that secret all that time?" Tracey grinned back. "I heard that people were saying he was dating his apprentice. You know, the metamorph?" She said with a laugh.

"She'd be far too young for him," Hermione shook her head quickly at that. "She's only just finished school. Professor Potter is... what?" She frowned as she tried to calculate how old Professor Potter must be.

"He went to school with my dad," Neville spoke up quietly as they reached the third floor corridor stairway. "So... um..." He tried to calculate it from how old he knew his parents were. "Probably thirty three, thirty four, something like that?"

"Hmm, he looks a bit older, almost as old as my parents." Hermione nodded thoughtfully, thinking that Professor Potter must have at least been around the same age as her dad, nearly forty.

"The history books probably have his birthday in them, we can find out there." Daphne suggested. It wasn't important information, but it was something that she should probably know since Professor Potter was going to be her stepfather.

"I'll look it up during dinner." Hermione commented with a mental note to herself to do just that.

"Not tonight," Daphne shook her head. "It's the Halloween feast tonight, oh Merlin... I didn't think..." She exclaimed, stopping mid way through the third floor corridor, causing everyone else to stop and look at her. "The Halloween feast!" She exclaimed, looking at the three confused faces that were staring back at them.

Neville was the first one to get it, blanching when he realised what today actually was before shaking his head. "I don't think Professor Potter will be at the feast." He said quickly.

"Me neither," Daphne said in agreement.

"Why not?" Hermione asked, realising that she was completely out of the loop here.

"Halloween, ten years ago." Daphne explained. "That's when... Vo... Voldemort attacked The Potters." She explained, causing both Hermione and Tracey to gasp in realisation. "That's when Lily Potter was killed." She said in a soft voice.

"No wonder he won't be at the feast tonight," Hermione whispered, feeling sorry for Professor Potter now that she realised the whole school would be celebrating the day that he lost his wife.

"And I just told everyone he was in a relationship with my mother, on the anniversary of his wife's murder!" Daphne whispered in horror, the colour leaving her face as she realised what she'd done. "How can I even tell him I did that?"

"Do you think we should leave him alone today?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice, looking between Daphne and Neville who both seemed to know Professor Potter better than she did.

"Maybe," Neville nodded quickly. "Would you want to speak to anyone on... on the day..." He trailed off, knowing full well that the anniversary of his parent's attack was coming up, and he wouldn't want to speak to anyone on that day either.

"What if we..." Hermione started to ask before she was interrupted.

"Wotcha!"

The group all turned in shock at hearing the new voice, seeing Professor Tonks bouncing as she walked down the corridor towards them. "What you lot doing here? You haven't got lessons with us today?" She asked, flushing her hair green with confusion at seeing the Gryffindor and Slytherin first year friends crowding around the corridor.

"Is... is Professor Potter around?" Daphne asked hesitantly.

"Probably in his office," Nymphadora shrugged casually. "We didn't have anything last period, so I was just doing some marking so I don't have to do it tonight." She explained with a distasteful face. "What'd you need him for?"

"It's... it's private?" Daphne half-asked. "I didn't know if he'd be here or not."

"As far as I know he is," Nymphadora tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "I'm covering last period for him, but he didn't say anything about leaving any earlier than that though."

"Where's he going?" Hermione asked without thinking, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Didn't say," Nymphadora shrugged. "But Professor McGonagall seemed fine with him and Harry missing the feast, so I figure he cleared everything with her first." She explained.

"He's taking Harry with him?" Daphne asked before frowning at herself. "Stupid, of course he is. They'd want to do something together tonight, as family."

"Probably visiting Lily Potter's grave," Hermione suggested in a quiet voice.

"Yeah," Neville nodded in agreement, a solemn look on his face as he considered that.

"I didn't think!" Nymphadora muttered, her face turning completely white as she realised what the kids were saying. "No wonder he's been off today."

"Off?" Daphne asked, worrying that Professor Potter was already in a bad mood today when she'd be adding more problems to it.

"Just kind of edgy you know?" Nymphadora explained. "Like he had Professor McGonagall check the castle wards, twice. Even asking about trolls and making sure they were kept out for some reason."

"Trolls?" Hermione asked, wrinkling her nose as she tried to think about why Professor Potter would be worrying about trolls of all things.

"We should probably leave it for today," Neville said quietly. "We can talk to him tomorrow morning if we need to."

Daphne sighed at that but nodded in agreement. On the one hand, she should really confess to Professor Potter what she'd done as soon as she could, but on the other hand, talking to him about something like this on the anniversary of his wife's death was tasteless at best.

"Want me to pass on a message or anything?" Nymphadora asked, curious about what the four were talking about now.

"We'll be fine," Daphne shook her head quickly at that. This wasn't the sort of thing that should be passed through messages.

"Thanks Professor Tonks." Hermione said with a quick smile over to the youngest Professor as her and Daphne started heading away from the corridor, walking quickly with Neville and Tracey hurrying to keep up with them.

"How... how do you think Harry is?" Hermione asked quietly as the four of them started walking down to the main stairway and down to the great hall area of the castle.

"It's probably going to be a bad day for him," Neville said softly, feeling sorry for his friend right now. "No wonder he's going to miss the feast tonight."

"I don't blame him for missing it," Daphne sighed. "I wouldn't want to celebrate tonight either."

* * *

**Godric's Hollow**

**West Country**

It was late in the day when James and Harry appeared on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow with a soft crack, James wrapping his coat around him while Harry huddled into the black cloak he'd been given for tonight.

It felt weird being out of school and missing their final lesson of the day, but his dad had explained what today actually meant and why he wanted to take Harry here tonight to talk about things.

"This... this is where..." Harry trailed off awkwardly, looking around the snow covered town.

Godric's Hollow was a strange mixture of old houses that looked pretty ancient, new houses that had been built over the years, along with cars and streetlights that lit up the snow on the ground with their orange glow.

"Yeah," James nodded, keeping his hands in his pockets as he looked around, making sure they were alone. "I figured you should... I never knew about this place, not when I was your age." He explained as he started walking, Harry moving to quietly walk alongside him as they headed into the town properly.

"Why not?" Harry asked in a quiet voice.

"Because the people that knew thought that they knew better that I did, and didn't want me to come here yet." James explained bitterly before sighing. "Mum and Dad's cottage is here, where they lived before..." He trailed off.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, understanding what his older self was saying. "Why... why did Voldemort attack them?" He asked quietly.

"There was a prophecy," James explained with a nod towards Harry. "He heard that we could be the ones to defeat him."

"Oh," Harry frowned at that. "Did... it came true then?" He asked curiously.

"I guess," James nodded back. He did defeat Voldemort, that was the truth of it. Whether it was because of the prophecy or not, that was a question he couldn't really answer. He still didn't believe in the prophecy himself really, but couldn't deny that he'd defeated Voldemort, just like the prophecy said he would.

"So he killed our mum and dad because of it?" Harry asked, looking up at his older self.

"Yeah," James grimaced to himself, not really wanting to say that they'd been killed because Voldemort wanted to get to him, and that their parents weren't the true target all along. That wasn't knowledge that his younger self ever needed to hear.

"Is he going to come back?" Harry asked, wrapping his cloak around himself tighter as he asked the question.

"Probably," James nodded down. "And when he does, I'll kick his arse out of the school again." He said with a small grin towards his younger self before getting serious again. "Yeah, he's going to keep coming until I kill him." He explained solemnly.

"You're really going to kill him?" Harry whispered, looking up at James now. "Does... he deserves it right, for killing our parents?"

"He definitely deserves it," James nodded, thinking of everything Voldemort had done. "Even if he hadn't have killed our parents, he'd still deserve it."

"I guess," Harry frowned to himself. "I... I just don't know how I feel, talking about killing someone like that." He explained quietly.

"You're not supposed to," James nodded down, resting his hand on his younger self's shoulder. "Killing someone isn't something you're ever supposed to understand."

"But you need to kill him?" Harry questioned again. "Because of the prophecy?"

"Not because of the prophecy," James shook his head at that. "It's not about that. It's about making sure that you and Hermione, Susan, Daphne and Neville, can all grow up without that monster being around." He explained. "If I don't... he won't stop coming... and one day..."

"One day he'll come for me if you don't." Harry said softly. "He came for you? When you were me?" He asked, looking up.

"A few times," James sighed. "I didn't have anyone looking out for me like this, it was just me and Hermione really, and a few others." He explained bitterly, thinking of all the betrayals he'd had over his life from friends that turned out to be anything but.

"But..." Harry started, frowning at himself as he tried to understand the things his older self was saying. "You can really kill him?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah," James confirmed with a single nod as he indicated for them to turn to the side up a different street in the town. "That's the cottage where our mum and dad lived." He explained quietly, gesturing ahead to where he could see Sirius and Remus waiting outside the mostly destroyed cottage.

"Who... who's that with Uncle Sirius?" Harry asked.

"Remus," James winced, forgetting that he hadn't mentioned Remus to Harry yet. "He's a friend of Sirius', he was out dad's friend too."

"Why haven't you spoken about him before?" Harry whispered up.

"Because I didn't know where he was or if he'd even come and see us yet." James explained flatly, still not entirely sure where he stood with Remus yet. Over the past week or so they'd gotten better with things, talking about what had happened, and Remus apologising for abandoning him to The Dursley's.

Things weren't perfect between them, and they were a long way off being good, but they could at least be pleasant to each other and talk about things without arguing anymore, which was a good thing as far as Sirius had confirmed.

"Hey kiddo," Sirius was the first to speak up, walking to meet them and ruffling Harry's hair, knocking all the loose snow out of it as he came to stand beside him.

"Hi Uncle Sirius." Harry smiled up.

"The old cat let you two out early then?" Sirius asked, looking over to James now. "Wasn't sure if you'd get here before dinner time."

"I don't think she wanted me at the feast either," James admitted, nodding over to Remus who was simply staring at Harry now. "Bad memories I guess." He explained with a frown.

"Yeah, too many." Sirius confirmed, looking back to the destroyed cottage and remembering the last time he was here and how he'd handed baby Harry over to Hagrid without a second thought. "Didn't bring Amelia with you?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Figured this should be a family thing," James said, looking around the area in front of the destroyed cottage.

"Yeah, probably." Sirius nodded in agreement. "Sorry kiddo, this is Remus." He explained, finally introducing the two as Remus stepped forwards.

"Dad told me," Harry nodded, smiling politely over to Remus who gave him a hesitant smile back before glancing over to James.

"Yeah, he calls Junior dad, don't think I ever get tired of laughing at that." Sirius grinned over, noticing Remus' confusion at the comment.

"Yeah yeah, you're the one paying for the mind healer when I go curse happy," James muttered over, shaking his head in amusement at Sirius' grin. "Who brought the flowers?" He asked, looking down to where a small pile of white lilies were laying on the ground in front of the cottage.

"Dunno," Sirius shrugged. "Figured it was you?" He asked, looking over to James who shook his head in response. "Probably some well wisher then, you know, the entire country kind of knows about what happened here? Not surprising there's a few people who still come by and drop flowers off."

"Yeah, maybe." James mused thoughtfully, looking down at the pale lilies that were laying on the snow covered pathway to the gate of the cottage.

"What... what are we going to do here?" Harry asked, looking up at the three adults.

"Up to you," James looked down at him. "You want to go inside?" He asked, looking over to the destroyed cottage. "Actually, I've never even been inside there." He said quietly, admitting such a thing to himself as well as out loud.

Harry quickly shook his head at that option. The way the ruins of the cottage looked weren't welcoming at all, and knowing that his parents had died in there... well, it certainly wasn't somewhere he ever wanted to go inside, definitely not tonight.

"Don't blame you on that one," Sirius nodded in agreement to Harry. "This whole place is just..." He shivered, looking around the town. "It used to be a nice place you know, Prongs was always talking about taking you flying out back when you were older." He explained with a fond smile at the memory.

"Flying?" Harry asked, looking up at Sirius now.

"Yeah, the cottage had all the fields out back as well, right back to the forest, it's huge." Sirius explained with a grin, happy to talk about happier times. "The cottage was just the start I think, like James wanted to build out from it, make it bigger, even have his own quidditch pitch at some point." He said with a wide smile. "He always wanted more kids you know, a few little brothers or a little sister for you."

"What's going to happen to the house now?" Harry asked, looking back to his older self.

"After... well, now, it's probably not even safe to keep standing like this." James admitted, the cottage had very clearly taken the brunt of the Death Eater attack and was in a worse state than he ever remembered seeing it like before. "It'll probably have to be pulled down at some point."

"Oh," Harry whispered, not entirely sure how he should be feeling about that piece of news. It was his parents house, and where they died, but it didn't feel right to just pull it all down and forget about it all.

"What about the grounds?" Remus asked curiously.

"The deeds will still be in the vaults right?" Sirius asked curiously. "I mean, you own them now right? It's still Potter property, doesn't matter than The Ministry tried to take it over and make it into some sort of history lesson out here."

"Probably," James mused with a small nod. "Yeah, the grounds are all still there I guess, I'd have to check with Amelia what The Ministry actually did about everything though."

"Probably thought they could get away with just stealing it from you and not having to worry about it." Sirius muttered in disgust, knowing full well how The Ministry worked and that they almost certainly would have tried to steal it if they thought they could get away with it.

"Wouldn't surprise me," James muttered, making a mental note to actually ask Amelia exactly what was going on with the cottage and why The Ministry took it over in the first place. "I just thought..." He sighed, looking to his younger self. "I never really got to come here before to say... I don't know, goodbye? Thank you? I don't know..." He admitted, looking back at the cottage.

"It feels kind of weird being here," Harry admitted, looking from the cottage up to his older self. "Is it... morbid or something to be here?"

"Probably, a bit." James admitted when both Sirius and Remus shared a look between them.

"We'll see you down by the statue," Sirius said with a nod, gesturing for Remus to follow him as they walked off, the snow crunching underfoot as the two Harry Potter's watched them leave.

"Where are they going?" Harry asked, idly curious as he watched his uncle walk away.

"There's a statue dedicated to our parents down in the middle of the town," James explained softly. "I told Sirius it'd probably be best if we just talked about this sort of stuff together. Just between us, or just between me I guess."

"What sort of stuff?" Harry asked curiously, still huddling himself in his cloak to keep warm in the evening's snow.

"You know... there's a lot more to magic than what you're learning at the moment right?" James started hesitantly, moving to lean on one of the stone walls that surrounded the destroyed cottage. "Really, there's tons of stuff out there that you can't even imagine yet." He explained, looking over as Harry stared at him with interest.

"Like what?" Harry asked quickly, always interested in learning anything he could about any new types of magic.

"It... it was a story, a bedtime story for kids I think, the sort of thing they have in magical homes like Susan and Daphne's house." James explained, hedging around the explanation and how to start thing. "A long time ago, there were three wizards, who met Death." He explained.

"Death? As in..." Harry trailed off, swallowing audibly as he tried to understand that.

"The Grim Reaper or whatever the magical world calls him, that one." James nodded. "They generally call him Death, but the pictures in the book were pretty much the same as what you'd imagine a Grim Reaper to be anyway."

"Oh," Harry nodded, accepting that for now.

"Anyway, Death gave the three wizards a gift. A wand, a cloak, and a stone." James explained quietly so his voice didn't carry over anywhere else down the street. "And whoever put all the gifts together was supposed to become the Master of Death."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked curiously.

"Honestly, I don't know." James admitted, shaking his head. "The stories didn't say, and nobody's ever done it before as far as I know." He said with a small shrug. "But our dad had one of those gifts." He explained. "An invisible cloak."

"Our dad had an invisible cloak?" Harry whispered in awe, his eyes going wide at this piece of information.

"Yup," James smiled over. "But it's the other gift that I wanted to talk to you about."

"Which one?" Harry asked, looking up and wondering what his older self was trying to say.

"This..." James explained, reaching under his t-shirt and pulling out the small black stone that was on a shining metal chain around his neck, fastened with a permanent sticking charm. "The stone." He explained softly. "The Resurrection Stone."

"What does it do?" Harry asked, staring at the simple black stone in amazement.

"You turn it three times, and you can bring a ghost of someone back to talk to them." James admitted, letting the resurrection stone fall against his chest. "They're not really ghosts, not like at school, but they're not... not alive either." He tried to explain and failed miserably. "Somewhere between I guess."

"You've got all of them, haven't you?" Harry asked, looking at his older self as he realised why he was telling himself this. "The wand, the stone and the cloak?"

"All three," James nodded slowly, seeing how his younger self was going to accept this.

"You're the Master of Death?" Harry asked, frowning slightly at the title.

"For whatever it means, yeah." James nodded, still unsure if the damn title actually meant anything anyway. The niggling thought was that people thought it did, and Nicolas Flamel certainly thought it did, which was a frankly worrying realisation. "It doesn't really change anything though."

"Is that... is that how you came back in time like that?" Harry asked curiously.

"I..." James frowned as he thought about it. He'd always assumed it was the time turner that had thrown him back here, but could it have been a mixture of the time turner and the Deathly Hallows? Or maybe anyone else using the time turner like that would have died, and he'd only lived because of them? "I don't know." He admitted thoughtfully. "I didn't mean to come back like that, if that's what you mean."

"Oh," Harry nodded, accepting that for now.

"I'm telling you all this stuff because I think you've got the right to decide," James sighed, touching the resurrection stone around his neck. "Do you want me to summon our parents so you can talk to them?"

At that, Harry went wide eyed, staring at his older self in shock at what he was saying. "You... you can really do that?" He asked in a quiet voice. "You've... done that before?"

"Once, twenty years ago." James nodded solemnly. "I haven't used it since."

"Why not?" Harry asked curiously, if he could talk to his real dad, any time he wanted, he would have used it every single day.

"The story, the wizard that Death gave the stone to? He used it to bring his girlfriend back from the dead." James explained quietly. "She hated it, being kept in the real world instead of wherever she was supposed to be? Heaven I guess? It must have been like torturing her." He said softly. "He killed himself after using it."

"Oh," Harry whispered, still staring at the little black stone around his older self's neck.

"I only used it when I thought I was going to die," James admitted, leaning back a bit on the snow covered wall to get comfortable while they talked. "I wanted to know what it was like." He said quietly, admitting that aloud for the first time in his life.

"It... it hurts them to be summoned?" Harry asked softly.

"The story said it does," James said with a thoughtful nod. "I didn't ask them when it happened, I... I was just thinking about other things."

"I don't want to hurt my mum and dad." Harry said softly.

"Neither do I," James confirmed with a nod. "I just thought... I thought you should know that I can, if you ever needed me to."

Harry simply nodded at that, thinking about everything his older self was saying. "Maybe... maybe we could one day? To... I don't know what I'd say... to meet them? To ask if they'd have liked me?" He said softly.

"I'm sure they would have," James smiled down at his younger self reassuringly. "It's sort of weird you know, knowing that ghosts are real and that souls live on after we die." He explained. "It's sort of proof that whatever else happens, they'll be there, waiting for us both when we die."

"I don't think I want that to happen for a very long time." Harry said quietly.

"Me neither, not for either of us." James chuckled in response. "You know you can't tell anyone about this right? It's got to be kept a secret."

"It sounds like a big sort of secret," Harry nodded back, understanding why his older self would keep this to himself. "Does Uncle Sirius know?" He asked, causing his older self to shake his head in response. "Aunt Amelia?"

"She knows," James nodded. "I told her when I was explaining everything about Dumbledore and Voldemort." He said with a small shrug. "She understands why it's so big of a secret."

"Why... why did you get them all?" Harry asked, curious about that.

"I don't know," James admitted. "Some of it was just chance I guess, otherwise it just happened at the time." He explained with a shrug. "Dumbledore used to have the wand, then I took it from him." He explained, simplifying it down. "Voldemort had the stone, he used it in some mixed up ritual."

"And you had the cloak, like the three of you fighting each other." Harry said with a nod as he considered that.

"That..." James winced as he thought about it. Yes, the real James Potter would have had the cloak if he'd lived, and Dumbledore had the wand, and Voldemort had the stone, or would have had it if he hadn't used it for a Horcrux. That definitely wasn't a nice thought, putting him in the same category as Dumbledore and Voldemort. "Our dad came from the same family, the three wizards. That's why the cloak was passed down to him, he could trace his family all the way back to those three wizards."

"Wow," Harry breathed out.

"Come on, we should probably catch up with Sirius and Remus." James said quickly, pushing himself off the stone wall and tucking the resurrection stone back under his t-shirt. Still a bit disturbed at his younger self's realisation that he, Dumbledore and Voldemort were like the three brothers in the story.

"OK," Harry nodded as he followed his older self, trudging through the snow down towards the centre of the town. "Is Death really real then?" He asked quietly. "Like a real person?"

"I've never met anything like that," James admitted with a small shrug. "And I'd think I'm supposed to if I'm the Master of Death right?" He asked with a small smirk down to his younger self.

"It isn't nice to hide from your master," Harry grinned up to his older self to show he was fine after learning this new piece of information about his older self. "Unless he's playing hide and seek with you?"

"For twenty years?" James snorted, shaking his head at the thought.

"Wow... he definitely beat you." Harry laughed, trying to picture his older self playing hide and seek with the grim reaper, and failing miserably in the process.

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

**Wiltshire**

The fiery orange blasting curse left Lucius Malfoy's wand the moment he'd seen who'd come through his floo, it was an instinctual decision, made very easy by the fact that he knew outright exactly how much certain people would be willing to pay in reward for this action.

While he might have sold his lot in with Potter and Black, for now, he certainly was not siding with the angels of society in any great way. He had his own plans and his own future to consider, a future that definitely did not involve bowing down to either Potter or Black when they took over the country.

They might not do it officially or through conquest like Riddle intended to, but it was painfully clear through Potter's popularity and Black's manoeuvring onto the Wizengamot, that between them they would indeed rule the country, in fact if not in title. It was a frankly disturbing notion to realise that the two Gryffindors would soon rule from behind the scenes, an act worthy of any Slytherin worth their salt.

It wasn't particularly satisfying or rewarding, watching the fat figure be blasted back into the fireplace where he slumped into the fire, blood pooling from underneath him where the blasting curse had impacted his side.

Lucius simply sheathed his wand, confidant in both his casting and his aim, before he walked to the fireplace and disdainfully kicked the prone figure on the shoulder, knocking him out of the fire before using his expensively shooed foot to stamp out the flames that were already licking at the tattered and disgusting clothing the man was wearing.

"Well, Peter Pettigrew, this is a surprise." Lucius smirked down at the unconscious and bleeding figure, idly wondering exactly what Potter and Black would be willing to reward him with for handing over this particular wizard.

A wry grin settled on his face as he realised that Pettigrew was worth a hell of a lot more to Potter and Black than they probably thought. Not only was he the traitor that sold them out to Voldemort, but he was also a Death Eater that they could interrogate and learn quite a lot from.

Oh yes, he was certain that Potter and Black would be willing to trade quite a lot for Pettigrew, he would make sure of it.


End file.
